Former TSA officer sentenced for bribery

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — A former federal Transportation Security Administration officer has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for bribery and extortion related to accepting cash in exchange for allowing what she believed were painkiller pills to pass through an airport.

The U.S. Attorney's office said 49-year-old Brigitte Jones of the Bronx, N.Y., who was based at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., received a 45-month sentence Thursday in New Haven.

Prosecutors said Jones agreed to allow a trafficker to transport the pills through airport security in exchange for $1,200.

Jones' attorney said in court papers she led a law-abiding life until the offense and took care of her family as a single parent. The attorney also said a cooperating witness acting under government supervision approached Jones to seek her involvement, though she should have refused his efforts.