SAN DIEGO—A Customs Service official resigned her post and pleaded guilty in federal court to making a false statement about her relationship with a corrupt immigration inspector, prosecutors said Wednesday.

Daphiney Kimberly Caganap, 43, admitted that she lied to an FBI agent when she said she never went to dinner with the San Diego inspector in 2000 or 2001, authorities said.

At the time, Caganap was an assistant director at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, overseeing the intelligence unit and anti-smuggling operations at the world’s busiest border crossing linking San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico.

“Caganap was entrusted with keeping the United States borders safe and she violated this trust with deceit,” said Daniel R. Dzwilewski, special agent in charge of the FBI’s San Diego bureau. “This closes the chapter on a corrupt book.”

Caganap has been on administrative leave from her job as port director at Detroit’s airport for U.S. Customs and Border Protection since a federal grand jury in San Diego indicted her in June on nine counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States, accepting gratuities and making false statements.

In exchange for her resignation and guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to drop charges that she accepted up to $30,000 in cash and a deluxe spa from the corrupt inspector and that she concealed his wrongdoing from investigators.

The U.S. Attorney’s office agreed to recommend a sentence of probation when Caganap is sentenced in January.

A message seeking comment from Caganap’s attorney, Thomas Warwick, was not immediately returned.

According to the indictment, Caganap received gifts and money and went on dates with the inspector, who was collecting thousands of dollars each week for allowing marijuana and illegal aliens to be smuggled through lanes he was staffing at the border crossing.

The indictment identifies the corrupt inspector only as a cooperating witness for the prosecution. However, The San Diego Union-Tribune has identified him as Michael Taylor, who is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to conspiracy to smuggle marijuana and illegal immigrants for financial gain.

Jami Ferrara, Taylor’s defense attorney, declined comment.

Another cooperating witness allegedly performed repairs on Caganap’s Mercedes-Benz.

In June 2000, Caganap allegedly met with the inspector, who was under investigation by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General. Caganap told him she would provide him with help and information in return for money, according to the indictment.

The arrangement ended in August 2001 when Caganap left a note in the mail slot at the San Ysidro Port of Entry as a signal that the inspector should “go on vacation,” meaning he should resign from his post, according to the allegations.