Man pleads guilty in border agent assault

SAN DIEGO — A man involved in a June incident in which a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed another man pleaded guilty Tuesday to two federal counts, including assault on a federal officer.

Jose Silvino Ibarra-Murietta, 39, a Mexican citizen, also pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to being in the country illegally after being previously deported, the U.S. Attorney’s office said.

Ibarra-Murietta and two others were spotted crossing the border June 21 just before 7:30 p.m. about a half-mile west of the San Ysidro Port of Entry, San Diego police said. Two agents caught Ibarra-Murietta, who resisted arrest while the other two men fled back into Mexico through an opening in the fence.

According to federal court documents, Ibarra-Murietta shoved one of the agents and threw dirt into his eyes while also trying to kick and bite him. As the struggle ensued, one of the other men leaned over the fence and hurled rocks and a piece of wood with protruding nails at the agents, hitting one of the agents in the head, police said.

As the attacker began to throw another rock, the other agent opened fire. The man, identified as José Alfredo Yañez Reyes, was mortally wounded and fell back into Mexico, where he was pronounced dead.

Ibarra-Murietta, who has been in federal custody since the incident, is scheduled to be sentenced at 9 a.m. on Nov. 7 before U.S. District Judge William Q. Hayes. For each count, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in custody and a $250,000 fine, said Debra Hartman, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In his plea, Ibarra-Murietta admitted that he forcibly assaulted a federal officer while the officer was engaged in his official duties and did inflict bodily injury, Hartman said. He also admitted that he kicked and shoved the agent and threw dirt into his eyes, temporarily blinding him, to avoid being taken into custody, Hartman said.

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