Illegal Immigrant Faces Prison for Assaulting Border Patrol Agent

An illegal immigrant from Mexico is facing up to eight years in a U.S. prison for a brutal assault where he used a metal flashlight to strike the face of a U.S. Border Patrol agent and tried to take his gun. The law enforcement official suffered a broken nose and had multiple lacerations.

This week, 54-year-old Miguel Cabrera Rangel, an illegal immigrant from the Mexican state of Queretaro went through a two-day trial in Laredo, Texas, where he was convicted on the charge of assaulting a federal officer, the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed. After the trial, federal authorities took him back into custody until his sentencing hearing at a later date. During sentencing, Cabrera faces up to eight years in prison.

The charges against Cabrera stem from the January 19 assault on a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Hebbronville. On that day, security guards at a local ranch called authorities about having spotted on game cameras a group of suspected illegal immigrants. One agent caught up with the group and tried to arrest them.

During the attempted arrest, Cabrera charged at the agent and began struggling with him while screaming for the others to run. During the struggle, the agent lost his radio and was unable to call for help. Cabrera was able to take the agent’s flashlight and used it to strike him in the head repeatedly. The man also was able to pin one of the agent’s arms and punched him several times. As the agent tried to fight off the attack, Cabrera reached for the agent’s gun, but was unable. The agent was eventually able to push off Cabrera who then ran away into the brush.

Other Border Patrol personnel were able to arrest some of the illegal aliens, but Cabrera escaped. Authorities were able to capture Cabrera at a later date on a fishing boat off the coast near Corpus Christi, Texas.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon.  You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.

Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.