Murderer of border patrol agent extradited to U.S.

Law enforcement officers across the country are applauding the extradition of the murderer of a U.S. Border Patrol agent. Jesus Navarro-Montes arrived Thursday in Houston from the Republic of Mexico and will be tried in San Diego. He will be transferred in the coming days by the U.S. Marshals Service to the Southern District of California where he will make his initial court appearance there.

According to the indictment, previously unsealed in San Diego federal court, Navarro-Montes is charged in a three-count superseding indictment with federal narcotics violations and second-degree murder in connection with the death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar on January 19, 2008.

According to the superseding indictment, Agent Aguilar was on duty on January 19, 2008, in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area in Imperial County, California, when he was struck and killed by a Hummer H2 driven by Navarro-Montes. The superseding indictment further alleges that Navarro-Montes conspired to distribute marijuana beginning at a date unknown and continuing up to and including January 19, 2008. The superseding indictment was handed down by a federal grand jury sitting in San Diego on May 6, 2009, and unsealed on May 14, 2009.

The superseding indictment replaced an initial indictment handed down by a San Diego federal grand jury on February 18, 2009, alleging that Navarro-Montes had possessed with intent to distribute approximately 445 kilograms of marijuana on September 23, 2007.

If convicted of the charges in the superseding indictment, the defendant faces a maximum prison sentence of 40 years on the narcotics charges and a maximum sentence of life in prison on the murder charge. An ongoing extradition agreement between the U.S. and Mexican governments prohibits the imposition of the death penalty.

The extradition is the result of close cooperation between the United States and Mexican law enforcement authorities, according to Justice Department officials. The case is being investigated by the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection - Border Patrol - El Centro and Yuma Sectors.