http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=3400911

Last defendant sentenced in 1998 slaying of Border Patrol agent


TUCSON, Ariz. A 27-year-old man has been sentenced in Tucson to 15 years in prison in connection with the slaying seven years ago of a Border Patrol agent.

Juan Manuel Mares-Rivas, a Mexican citizen, is the last of four defendants in the case to be sentenced.

Border Patrol Agent Alexander Kirpnick was killed in June 1998 west of Nogales after he encountered four men trying to smuggle marijuana across the U-S-Mexico border.

Umares-Rivas, of Mexico, was extradited to Tucson after the three other defendants in the case had been sentenced.

He pleaded guilty to federal drug and weapons charges.