SAN DIEGO – A federal grand jury Thursday indicted a former Border Patrol agent on charges of alien smuggling, making a false claim of U.S. citizenship and being an alien in possession of a firearm.

Oscar Antonio Ortiz, 28, was also charged with making a false statement in the acquisition of a firearm.

According to court documents, agents and officers of the North County Regional Gang Task Force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security tapped the cellular phone conversations between Ortiz and his co-conspirators between April 15 and June 6.

Ortiz, a U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to the El Cajon Border Patrol Station, was heard on many occasions arranging to smuggle illegal aliens with another Border Patrol agent through their area of operations near the U.S.- Mexican border east of the Tecate Port of Entry, authorities said.

Court documents also allege that Ortiz's Oct. 30, 2001, application for a position with the U.S. Border Patrol contains a false claim that he is a U.S. citizen, born in Chicago.

Ortiz submitted a copy of a birth certificate to the Department of Justice to support his claim of U.S. citizenship, authorities said.

However, a records check for the birth certificate revealed that it belongs to another person, authorities said.

Further records checks revealed that Ortiz was born in Mexico and is a Mexican citizen.

The indictment further alleges that Ortiz made a false representation that he was a U.S. citizen when he purchased a handgun from the El Cajon Gun Exchange March 21.

Ortiz is due back in court Sept. 23 for a motions hearing before U.S. District Judge John Houston.

At an earlier hearing, Magistrate Judge Anthony Battaglia ruled Ortiz was a flight risk and should be held without bail.