Free Republic

A former Border Patrol agent was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for smuggling illegal immigrants, sometimes in his own government vehicle. Eric Balderas, 28, pleaded guilty in December 2005 to conspiracy to bring in illegal aliens. His plea agreement indicated that he admitted smuggling at least 100 people, said prosecutor Alana Wong. Authorities allege that the crimes occurred in the spring of 2005. Balderas worked with fellow agent Oscar Antonio Ortiz, who was sentenced last year to five years in prison. Ortiz, himself an illegal immigrant from Mexico, admitted that he and Balderas took money to transport illegal...

WASHINGTON, June 7, 2007 – Afghan and U.S. forces killed a suspected al Qaeda agent and captured three other suspected insurgents during separate actions in Afghanistan’s Zabul and Nangarhar provinces today, military officials said. The suspected al Qaeda operative had fired on Afghan and U.S. troops as they approached a reputed militant safe house located in the Khogyani district of Nangarhar province. The house was allegedly used by al Qaeda to funnel weapons and explosives for terrorist operations. Coalition forces returned fire, killing the militant. A search of the house yielded numerous weapons, including timers and grenades used to make...

ESCONDIDO: Investigators have learned that a Riverside County man shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent last week was a legal resident, the Sheriff's Department said yesterday. AdvertisementBenito A. Gonzalez, 40, of Sun City, gave the agent a false name when contacted in a parking lot on Mountain Meadow Road off Interstate 15 last week, said sheriff's homicide Sgt. Roy Frank. The agent was not able to confirm the man's identity at the time and tried to arrest him on suspicion of being an undocumented immigrant. A struggle ensued, and the agent shot and killed Gonzalez in a nearby...

Fellow Freepers, I've recently written a 139,000 word fantasy novel (swords & sorcery type stuff). After an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from dozens of test readers, I've decided to seek an agent to help get the book published. I'm taking a stab in the dark here in case... 1) Anyone knows an actual agent who deals in the fantasy genre. 2) Anyone knows a published fantasy author who may be willing to "blurb" my manuscript, if it is worthy. (That means reading all or part of the book and, if they enjoy it, to offer a quote that I can include...

PHOENIX - A Border Patrol agent was charged Monday with first-degree murder in the shooting of an illegal immigrant at the border in January. An investigation found that Agent Nicholas Corbett's killing of Francisco Dominguez-Rivera, of Puebla, Mexico, was not legally justified, said Cochise County prosecutor Ed Rheinheimer. Corbett is also charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter and negligent homicide. Corbett's attorney, Daniel Santander, didn't immediately return a message left Monday afternoon by The Associated Press. The shooting, which drew condemnation from the Mexican government, occurred while Corbett was trying to apprehend Dominguez-Rivera and three others who were trying to enter...

A Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man who threatened him with a softball-sized rock at the border, the agency said Tuesday. The agent fired an M-4 assault rifle at the man, who had escaped from a scuffle with another agent as he tried to run back into Mexico, said Border Patrol spokesman David Kim. The victim, whose name, nationality and immigration status were not released by U.S. authorities, was pronounced dead from one bullet wound at El Centro Regional Medical Center after the incident Monday. Kim said he did not know where the man was struck. Pablo Arnaud...

Shortly after a segment on the popular show "America's Most Wanted" Saturday featured the story of two Border Patrol agents imprisoned for shooting a Mexican suspected drug dealer, one of the agents was badly assaulted by fellow inmates in his Mississippi prison. Ignacio Ramos had been preparing to go to bed at the Federal Correctional Complex in Yazoo City, Miss., when four inmates attacked him, kicked him in the head, the side and the shoulders with steel-toed boots, Ramos' attorney David Botsford told Cybercast News Service. The incident has fueled calls from members of Congress for President Bush to pardon...

advertisementOfficials still aren't saying if a suspected illegal entrant shot and killed Friday by a U.S. Border Patrol agent had a weapon. The details surrounding a fight between the man who was killed, Francisco Javier Dominguez-Rivera, 22, of Puebla, Mexico, and the Border Patrol agent remained hazy Saturday as officials were tight-lipped about the investigation. "The agent thought his life was in danger," said Jesús Rodriguez, a Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman. The incident occurred just after 3 p.m. Friday 150 yards north of the border between Bisbee and Douglas, southeast of the Paul Spur Lime plant and Arizona 80,...

An off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent was held for more than a day by Mexican authorities after crossing the border at San Luis with ammunition in his car before his release late Friday, authorities said. The unidentified agent was arrested Thursday as he entered Mexico at the San Luis Port of Entry in southwest Arizona, said Raul Berumen, a spokesman for municipal authorities in San Luis Rio Colorado, Mexico. Mexican Customs inspectors found a bag containing 650 rounds of .40-caliber ammunition in the agent's 2006 Nissan Altima, Berumen said. Possessing firearms or ammunition in Mexico is illegal and large warning...

A baseball players agent illegally smuggled Cuban players into the United States, eventually shipping them to California in hopes that they would be signed by major league teams, federal immigration officials said Tuesday. The agent, Gustavo ``Gus'' Dominguez, is charged with paying four aides to transport the athletes and other Cubans to the U.S. in two trips from the island nation. Dominguez, of California-based Total Sports International, has represented several Cuban baseball defectors, including Andy Morales, who was signed into the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox minor league systems after fleeing Cuba six years ago. Excerpt. Get the...

Congressmen who visit the U.S.-Mexico border unannounced are being monitored by the Department of Homeland Security, and at least one U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent has been suspended for speaking to a congressman without first getting supervisory clearance, according to documents obtained by the Daily Bulletin. Congressional representatives interviewed by the Daily Bulletin said they were unaware until recently that Border Patrol agents were required to file Significant Incident Reports -- normally used for shootings and other serious border incidents -- when congressional representatives made unannounced visits this summer along the U.S.-Mexico border. A second document obtained by the...

A former border inspector pleaded guilty Thursday to accepting cash bribes and luxury cars in exchange for allowing smugglers to sneak hundreds of illegal immigrants from Mexico into the U.S. through a busy San Diego crossing. Richard Elizalda, 55, a 10-year veteran border inspector for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, admitted to one count of accepting bribes as a public official and two counts of bringing illegal aliens into the country for financial gain stemming from a 15-count indictment in January. He faces up to 35 years in prison and $820,000 in fines. Elizalda sent text messages directing drivers to...

YUMA, Ariz. -- A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man who was throwing rocks at officers from the Mexican side of the border late Saturday, officials said. The incident began after agents spotted a suspicious vehicle near the Andrade Port of Entry west of the California-Arizona border, just north of the international border and alongside the Colorado River. The driver fled and then tried to swim across a pond along the river in an effort to return to Mexico, the agency said in a press release. But the man began to struggle to stay afloat and agents threw...

Ex-NHL agent arrested on sex charges David Frost used position of trust to prey on boys, girls, police say Gary Dimmock and Andrew Seymour CanWest News Service Wednesday, August 23, 2006 OTTAWA -- David Frost, the former NHL agent who was once the target of a foiled U.S. murder-for-hire plot hatched by one of his star players, woke up this morning in jail on charges that he sexually exploited four boys and three girls, aged 14 to 16, across a six-year period ending in 2001. The disgraced coach and mentor-turned-NHL-agent for onetime big leaguers like Mike Danton and Sheldon...

US Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos attorney is Mary Stillinger (article at the end of this email) http://www.marystillingerlaw.com/index.jsp (915) 544-0415 I just spoke with Attorney Mary Stillinger's legal assistant, Ruth. She said that the U.S. Border Patrol Agents are scheduled for their sentencing on August 22nd. Ruth said IF WE SEND LETTERS stating the border patrol agents have been wrongly accused THAT ATTORNEY MARY STILLINGER CAN USE OUR LETTERS WHEN SHE GOES BEFORE THE JUDGE on August 22nd. Letters could be helpful for both the sentencing and the appeal in this case, she said. I have been researching this issue...

EL PASO, Texas - Border Patrol Agent Ignacio Ramos could hear his heart racing. He could feel the dry, hot dust burning against his skin as he chased a drug trafficker trying to flee back into Mexico. Ramos' fellow agent, Jose Alonso Compean, was lying on the ground behind him, banged up and bloody from a scuffle with the much-bigger smuggler moments earlier. Suddenly the smuggler turned toward the pursuing Ramos, gun in hand. Ramos, his own weapon already drawn, shot at him, though the man was able to flee into the brush and escape the agents. Now, nearly 18...

SAN DIEGO - A Border Patrol agent who admitted smuggling more than 100 illegal immigrants into the U.S. from Mexico, some of them in his government truck, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for about three years, but U.S. District Judge John A. Houston decided a stiffer punishment was required for 29-year-old Oscar Antonio Ortiz. "You violated the sacred trust of your comrades," the judge said. "As a link in the chain, they depended on you." The corruption case is one in a spate involving Border Patrol agents at a time when the agency is...

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2006 — The morning of Feb. 20 was like any other for Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Adele Loar, who was assigned to the Strategic Counterintelligence Directorate in Baghdad, Iraq. Her mission, along with the joint team assembled there, was to gather information from Iraqi civilian sources to ascertain current threats to coalition forces. Performing a mission for which she is trained and one that she loves, Loar said it did not matter when or where she worked or the dangers she might face. She especially reveled in the opportunity to be working on...

Agent who led Bin Laden hunt criticises CIA Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Saturday July 8, 2006 The Guardian (UK) The man who led America's hunt for Osama bin Laden has said the CIA was wrong to disband the only unit devoted entirely to the terrorist leader's pursuit - just at a time when al-Qaida is reasserting its influence over global jihad. Shutting down the Bin Laden unit squandered 10 years of expertise in the war on terror, said Michael Scheuer, who founded the unit in 1995 and arguably knows more about Bin Laden than any other western intelligence official. He...

RUSSIA has come up with its own answer to James Bond in the shape of a glamorous all-action female spy.The blockbuster film Beautiful is due to be released this autumn - at the same time as Daniel Craig makes his debut as 007 in Casino Royale - and is being seen as part of an attempt to lift the nation's confidence and improve the battered reputation of its security services. The Russian media have already styled the film and the action heroine as their post-communist equivalent to Bond. In a play on his 007 code name, the actress has been...