Uvalde Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Federal Prison for Assaulting Border Patrol Agent at Checkpoint

DEL RIO, Texas - A Uvalde man was sentenced to 24 months in prison for assaulting a United States Border Patrol agent, announced U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas.

According to court documents, on Jan. 6, Maximiliano Arellano, 25, underwent a routine immigration checkpoint inspection at the Uvalde Border Patrol Immigration Checkpoint. Arellano was referred to a secondary inspection due to positive detection by the service canine. At secondary inspection, Arellano became agitated, repeatedly called Border Patrol agents racial slurs, and refused to comply with the agents' commands.

Arellano eventually approached an agent in an aggressive manner at which time U.S. Border Patrol agents placed Arellano against his vehicle to de-escalate the situation. Arellano resisted, pushed off of the vehicle, and threw his body into another agent. Arellano struck the agent's chest and knocked him off balance. Arellano was ultimately restrained with the use of a taser.

Arellano pleaded guilty to one count of assaulting, resisting or impeding certain officers or employees on June 30.

The U.S. Border Patrol investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carli Tuttle prosecuted the case.

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