QUOTE
Suspect in Aguilar's death extradited
January 30, 2010 12:31 PM
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Mexican authorities have extradited a man to the United States to face charges that he killed a Yuma Border Patrol agent two years ago near Gray’s Well Road in the Imperial Sand Dunes.
The U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego confirmed that Jesus Navarro Montes arrived Thursday in Houston and will be moved to Southern California in the next few days.
Navarro Montes is the suspected driver of a drug-loaded Hummer that struck and killed Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar on Jan. 19, 2008.
Aguilar, 32, was run over in the sand dunes recreation area west of Yuma while trying to lay spike strips to stop the vehicle, which was fleeing law enforcement through the area.
U.S. authorities believe Navarro Montes left Mexicali in Baja California and was headed for the United States in a Hummer carrying drugs on the day the agent was killed.
According to previous articles in the Yuma Sun, after the death, Navarro Montes allegedly drove to Mexicali and gave the Hummer to accomplices for safekeeping.
Mexican authorities arrested Navarro Montes three days later in Ciudad Obregon, Son., in Mexico on an unrelated migrant smuggling charge. He was transferred to Mexicali, where he was detained on the smuggling charge. But before U.S. authorities could extradite him in the Aguilar case, he was freed, which prompted outrage from the U.S. government.
The United States again sought extradition after Mexican authorities arrested Navarro Montes near the resort town of Zihuatenejo last February.
Prosecutors say Navarro faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years if convicted of narcotics charges.
January 30, 2010 12:31 PM
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Mexican authorities have extradited a man to the United States to face charges that he killed a Yuma Border Patrol agent two years ago near Gray’s Well Road in the Imperial Sand Dunes.
The U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego confirmed that Jesus Navarro Montes arrived Thursday in Houston and will be moved to Southern California in the next few days.
Navarro Montes is the suspected driver of a drug-loaded Hummer that struck and killed Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar on Jan. 19, 2008.
Aguilar, 32, was run over in the sand dunes recreation area west of Yuma while trying to lay spike strips to stop the vehicle, which was fleeing law enforcement through the area.
U.S. authorities believe Navarro Montes left Mexicali in Baja California and was headed for the United States in a Hummer carrying drugs on the day the agent was killed.
According to previous articles in the Yuma Sun, after the death, Navarro Montes allegedly drove to Mexicali and gave the Hummer to accomplices for safekeeping.
Mexican authorities arrested Navarro Montes three days later in Ciudad Obregon, Son., in Mexico on an unrelated migrant smuggling charge. He was transferred to Mexicali, where he was detained on the smuggling charge. But before U.S. authorities could extradite him in the Aguilar case, he was freed, which prompted outrage from the U.S. government.
The United States again sought extradition after Mexican authorities arrested Navarro Montes near the resort town of Zihuatenejo last February.
Prosecutors say Navarro faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder. He faces a maximum sentence of 40 years if convicted of narcotics charges.
