Man Who Kidnapped, Assaulted Border Patrol Agent with Machete Gets 31 Years in Prison

A federal judge in Texas sentenced a Las Cruces, New Mexico, man to 31 years in prison for kidnapping a Border Patrol agent and assaulting him with a machete. The charges also include carjacking causing serious bodily injury.

The federal court convicted 37-year-old Fernando Angel Puga, aka “Cholo,” of Las Cruces, for one count of kidnapping; one count of carjacking resulting in serious bodily injury; and one count of transportation of a stolen vehicle in interstate commerce in May, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.

The U.S. Attorney’s office reported:

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on June 9, 2017, Puga and his co-defendant Sergio Ivan Quinonez-Venegas, 38, from Mexico, approached a man working at a food truck in El Paso.  Puga and Quinonez told the victim their car had broken down and asked for a ride. While the victim was giving the defendants a ride to a nearby gas station, Quinonez pulled out a gun and advised the victim that this “was a kidnapping.”  The victim was forced at gunpoint and knifepoint to drive the pair from El Paso to Las Cruces.  Once in Las Cruces, the victim was struck and stabbed multiple times by a machete wielded by Puga, fracutring the victim’s skull and severely puncturing his body and hands.

A New Mexico state court’s jury found Puga not guilty of the attempted murder of Border Patrol Agent Lorenzo Hernandez in April, 2019, Breitbart Texas reported. The jury also found him not guilty on the charge of aggravated assault.

However, Puga’s co-conspirator Sergio Ivan Venegas-Quiñonez, a Mexican national, pleaded guilty to the state charge of attempted murder and received a sentence of up to nine years in prison.

Earlier this year, Venegas-Quiñonez pleaded guilty to the carjacking charged and received a sentence of 60 months in prison in September, the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.

“I am thankful that this violent criminal will have a long time behind bars to reflect on his heinous actions while the community is made safer,” U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas Ashley C. Hoff said in a written statement.  “I am also hopeful that the victim experiences healing and finds some solace in defendant’s removal from society.  I laud the efforts of our law enforcement partners who worked to bring Puga to justice.”

FBI Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey R. Downey, El Paso Field Office added, “When faced with a deadly situation, the victim fought off the attackers and managed to escape. The courage and determination showed by the victim is awe-inspiring. The victim was not only able to escape but also assist law enforcement in the identification and arrest of the defendant and bring about the justice deserved in this violent abduction.”