NATIONAL CITY – from www.signonsandiego.com – Local ACORN officials reversed an earlier decision Thursday afternoon and fired a community organizer who was caught on video providing advice about human smuggling to a couple posing as a pimp and a prostitute.

In an afternoon press conference, David Lagstein said he believed his employee, Juan Carlos Vera, did his best to deal with a challenging situation, and would not be disciplined.

But two hours later, Lagstein stated he had reevaluated the videos posted online in which Vera was secretly filmed answering questions about smuggling people across the Tijuana border. Lagstein said in his earlier evaluation, he had only found a short, 52-second video, and not a longer seven-minute video. After consulting with supervisors and state ACORN officials, he decided Vera had contradicted his earlier statements and his conduct was “unacceptable.”

The recording showed Vera appearing to suggest he could help get people across the border and asking the woman posing as a prostitute how much her services cost.

At the news conference, Lagstein said the organization is “furious” that hidden cameras filmed employees of the community-organizing group, and he called such actions “immoral if not illegal.”

He also added that “we accept the imperfections that it exposed.”

Vera was at the news conference and he gave an emotional recounting of what happened. He broke into tears at least twice.

He said that English isn’t his first language and that he was confused about what was going on. He said he was just trying to help.

Lagstein said at the news conference that Vera ended up contacting a family member who works for police, and he said that shows that Vera knew what was happening was wrong.

Lagstein also said that he believes the timing was politically motivated, as it coincided with the day that President Obama gave a speech on health-care reform.