Houston (The Houston Chronicle) — Two Houston police officers are facing life in prison without the possibility of parole after allegations they accepted $2,000 in bribes to protect a stash of cocaine being smuggled through the city.

Emerson Canizales, 26, of Kingwood, and Michael Miceli, 26, of Humble, who are accused of taking $1,000 each, were quietly arrested with the help of a Houston Police SWAT team over the weekend as they reported for duty.

The Houston Police Department officers, who graduated from the same police academy class in 2010, stood side by side before a federal magistrate Monday during a brief hearing in which they were read their rights and advised of the charges rooted in a drug distribution conspiracy. 

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