2 former US customs agents acquitted in hazing case

NEWARK, N.J. – Two former customs agents accused of taking part in the hazing of other agents that allegedly included simulated sex acts have been acquitted.

A federal jury in Newark acquitted Parmenio Perez and Michael Papagni on Thursday. They were charged along with a third man in 2017. Perez is from Hawthorne and Papagni is from Staten Island, New York.

All three worked at Newark Liberty International Airport and were members of a unit responsible for identifying dangerous contraband and threats to national security.

An indictment alleged they would grab victims and hold them down on what were known as “rape tables” in an office at the airport.

The third man, Tito Catota, pleaded guilty last June and faces sentencing.