Thread: Illegal Alien Killer of Border Patrol Agent Gets 40 Years

Killer of Border Patrol agent gets 40 years

By Greg Moran, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 12:11 p.m.

SAN DIEGO — A Mexican teenager who pleaded guilty to killing Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas last year was sentenced Thursday to 40 years in prison.

Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez, 17, was sentenced in federal court in downtown San Diego. About 100 Border Patrol agents in green uniforms filled the courtroom and lined the hallway outside to observe the court proceeding.

Rosas, 30, was killed July 23 while on patrol near Shockey Truck Trail in Campo. About 9 p.m. that night, he was heard on his radio saying that he was tracking a group of illegal immigrants near the fence that marks the international border.

According to court records, he asked for backup from other agents and then his radio went dead. The agents in the area then heard gunshots.

When they got to the place Rosas had radioed from, they found his vehicle with the engine and lights on but no one inside. Agents found Rosas’ flashlight about 15 yards from the vehicle and they found him about 10 yards from the fence.

He had been shot numerous times, including several rounds to the head.

A sentencing memorandum from prosecutors said that investigators were able to follow a blood trial back to and under the fence. They collected samples and were able to get a DNA profile.

It is still not clear how authorities settled on Castro, but on Nov. 20 he surrendered, agreed to be charged as an adult, and pleaded guilty to murder of a federal officer in perpetuation of a robbery, as well as aiding and abetting.

He told authorities he and unnamed co-conspirators planned that night to cross into the U.S. from Mexico to rob a Border Patrol agent.

Armed with weapons, they lured Rosas by leaving footprints along the road, making noises, even shaking bushes in the brush. When Rosas took the bait he was ambushed and disarmed, court records say.

Castro held Rosas at gunpoint while the others he was with went to his vehicle. Castro said that at one point Rosas grabbed the gun and the two struggled.

Castro called to his companions for help, and fired a single round. The others returned and opened fire themselves.

One round hit Castro in the hand. An autopsy report said Rosas was hit nine times, repeatedly from behind and then when he was on the ground.

To read letters that were submitted to the court from Rosas' family and from the Border Patrol, go here.

Greg Moran: (619) 293-1236; greg.moran@uniontrib.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010 ... -40-years/

FORTY YEARS???? thats all, hell with good behavior this scumbag will be back on the streets in less than 20 years

For anyone else, this would have been premeditate and garnered the death penalty. I thought killing an officer of the law was an automatic death sentence, why did he only get 40 years???

If I had been the judge he would have gotten a lot more than 40 years.

Related
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-196951.html

C.B.P. News Release

Murderer of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Sentenced
(Thursday, April 29, 2010)

San Diego — A courtroom full of Border Patrol agents was present on Thursday morning at U.S. District Court for the sentencing of a teenager who was involved in the murder of Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas.

Christian Daniel Castro-Alvarez, 17, pled guilty on November 20, 2009 and was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the murder. The arrest and conviction of Castro-Alvarez was made possible through the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California and the FBI San Diego Field Office.

The presence of Border Patrol agents at the sentencing was meant to support the family of Robert Rosas and send a message to the defendant that his brutal act also victimized the larger law enforcement community.

“This brutal act of violence on a U.S. Border Patrol agent cannot and will not be tolerated,â€