EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — A Mexican man was sentenced in a federal court in El Paso to nearly four years in prison for three counts of assault on a federal officer, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Carlos Ernesto Guerrero-Gutierrez, identified as a Mexican national, was being detained in a pod of 20 individuals at an El Paso processing center in November 2023.
Guerrero-Gutierrez became disruptive and was placed in a separate isolation pod where he dismantled the pod’s frame and removed a wooden board that had nails on it, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office says when U.S. Border Patrol agents responded to the pod, Guerrero-Gutierrez bit one agent on the leg and injured two others using the board with nails. One of the agents was hit in the head and another agent was stabbed in the thumb with a nail.
Guerrero-Gutierrez was ultimately subdued after two taser deployment attempts, cuffed and restrained. He pleaded guilty to three counts of assault on a federal officer on May 6, 2024.
“Our Border Patrol partners place their lives on the line daily in defense of the United States and the integrity of our border,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Margaret Leachman for the Western District of Texas. “We take these violations seriously and will vigorously prosecute violent individuals who assault those who work tirelessly to protect us and our communities.”
The FBI and U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.