Man sentenced to 13 months for entering US illegally, assaulting border agent in Arizona

PHOENIX – A Mexican national was sentenced to over a year in federal prison for entering the United States illegally and assaulting a Border Patrol agent in Arizona, authorities announced Wednesday.

Adbiel Martinez-Barrera, 21, received a sentence of 13 months and one day last week after previously pleading guilty to assault of a federal officer and improper entry by an alien.

Martinez-Barrera attacked an officer in Douglas on May 5 after crossing the border illegally, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said.

What led up to assault on Border Patrol agent in Arizona?

According to prosecutors, the agent had responded to a call from a Border Patrol camera operator who spotted two people suspected of entering the country illegally.

The agent found Martinez-Barrera and a woman hiding in the brush. The agent was in the process of arresting the woman when the attack occurred, according to prosecutors.

Martinez-Barrera jumped on the female agent’s back and put his hand over her mouth, suffocating her temporarily, before getting up and running away.

Other agents who arrived at the scene were able to locate and arrest Martinez-Barrera, who is from Guerrero, a state on the Pacific coast of southern Mexico.

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