Honduran Man Convicted of Assaulting Federal Officers Sentenced to 96 Months
| U.S. Attorney’s Office July 22, 2010 |
BATON ROUGE, LA—United States Attorney Donald J. Cazayoux, Jr. announced today that Oscar Pinto, 33, of Honduras, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Ralph E. Tyson to serve ninety-six (96) months in prison and three years' supervised release.
PINTO had been found guilty after a bench trial on August 24, 2009, of two counts of assaulting United States Customs and Border Protection Agents Richard Treglia and Chad Hickman. In his attempt to evade arrest, PINTO engaged officers in a high-speed chase and later fought with officers and attempted to grab one of the agent’s firearms. PINTO, who was in the United States illegally, had been a fugitive since 2006. United States Attorney Cazayoux remarked, “Border Patrol agents put their lives on the line, and we are proud to have them protecting our community. The defendant’s sentence, which is the statutory maximum, is an appropriate sentence for someone who endangered the lives of law enforcement officers.”
The case was investigated by Special Agent Tom Goeke of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Susan C. Amundson.