BORDER BANDITS SENTENCED

TUCSON, Ariz. – On March 27, 2012, Javier Hernandez-Ramirez, 29, of Michoacan, Mexico, and Edgardo Alvarez-Mendivil, 36, of Sinaloa, Mexico, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge David C. Bury after pleading guilty in January 2012, to Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense. Each defendant was sentenced to 60 months in federal prison. 

On June 28, 2011, U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the BORTAC (Border Patrol Tactical Unit) were in the Sierrita Mountains, near Sahuarita, Ariz., when they encountered the two defendants. After arrest, both defendants admitted to HSI-Nogales agents that they were in the mountains for the sole purpose to rob others, specifically groups who were carrying backpacks of marijuana. When agents arrested the defendants, they found a loaded AK-47, along with a bullet proof vest.

The investigation in this case was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Special Agents assigned to the Office of the Assistant Special Agent in Charge in Nogales, Ariz., and United States Border Patrol. The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Arturo Aguilar, District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER:           CR-11-2629                    
RELEASE NUMBER:   2012-076(Hernandez-Ramirez etal)

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For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/az/