Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Assaulting Federal Officer

ALBUQUERQUE – Samuel Antonio Flores-Murillo, 38, a Mexican national, pled guilty yesterday afternoon in federal court in Las Cruces, N.M., to assaulting a federal officer.  The guilty plea was announced by U.S. Attorney Damon P. Martinez, Chief Patrol Agent Jeffrey D. Self of the U.S. Border Patrol El Paso Sector, and Special Agent in Charge Terry Wade of the Albuquerque Division of the FBI.

Flores-Murillo was arrested on April 9, 2016, and charged by criminal complaint with assaulting a federal agent of the U.S. Border Patrol on April 9, 2016, in Doña Ana County, N.M.  The complaint indicates that Flores-Murillo struck the agent in the forehead and bit the agent on the right forearm while the agent was attempting to apprehend Flores-Murillo. 

During yesterday’s proceedings, Flores-Murillo pled guilty to a felony information charging him with assaulting a federal officer and inflicting bodily injury.  In entering the guilty plea, Flores-Murillo admitted that on April 9, 2016, he struck a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the forehead causing the agent to bleed, and bit the agent on his right forearm which punctured the agent’s skin.  Flores-Murillo further admitted that he resisted and assaulted the agent while he was attempting to flee from Border Patrol. 

At sentencing, Flores-Murillo faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.  Flores-Murillo will be deported after completing his prison sentence.  He remains in federal custody pending a sentencing hearing which has yet to be scheduled.

This case was investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol and the Las Cruces office of the FBI.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Marisa A. Lizarraga of the U.S. Attorney’s Las Cruces Branch Office is prosecuting the case.