Jury Deliberations Start in Case of Customs Agent Hazing on a ‘Rape Table’

Two years ago we learned that working at Customs is worse than TSA, at least at Newark, where new employees are hazed at a ‘rape table’. They’re also threatened with guns.

Officers with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency at Newark Airport are alleging veteran officers have subjected them to brutal hazing rituals, which include duct-taping newcomers to a “rape table” and grinding their genitals on them.

…”Once the lights go out, they grab you up like a gang, and they forcibly throw you on the table and one officer ended up mounting me and pretty much riding me like a horse,” CBP officer Vito Degironimo told the outlet.

Hazing takes place to the theme of Jackass playing in the background.

These are the people we’re about to give control not just of people entering the US but also exiting, allowing them to collect and manage facial recognition and share that data with airlines (for lounge access potentially, even!).

This has all finally made it to federal court, and what’s the defense? It’s just “horseplay.”

The attorney for Michael Papagni, 33, argued in Newark federal court that prosecutors have not proved that his client’s conduct with colleagues in a conference room at the airport constitutes a crime.

“There’s no dispute there was physical contact, there was no assault,” attorney Joe Tacopina said during closing arguments.

Jury deliberations begin today.

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. After all, you know nothing says good clean innocent horseplay like gagging and binding someone to a rape table to brutally traumatize them. Maybe for an encore they could do genital electroshock treatment. Ha ha! Somebody get me a syringe!

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