A judge in Arizona sentenced a woman from Mexico to two years in jail after she pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal agent with a dangerous weapon.
The charge stems from an incident on April 16 in Nogales, Arizona, in which a US Border Patrol agent, only identified as E.B., spotted the woman crossing the border wall and drove up to the scene.
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Sandra Meza Casillas, 51, tried to escape unnoticed by lying flat on her stomach on a road parallel to the international fence.
Court documents show that when Agent E.B. arrived, two people on the Mexican side of the wall persuaded Meza to flee.
The agent pursued the woman on foot and grabbed her shoulder when he caught up with her. According to court records, Meza pulled out a canister of pepper spray and sprayed the agent on his left cheek. The agent survived the attack, and Meza was caught.
According to records, Meza was not authorized to stay in the United States and was deported in 2012.
According to court records, Meza has family in the United States, and her attorney has requested that she be released pending trial. The government challenged the move, and the judge concluded that she should stay in detention.
Faced with a probable sentence of up to 20 years in jail if convicted of the assault, Meza opted to negotiate a plea deal with prosecutors about a month after her arrest.
The United States Attorney’s Office said this month that U.S. District Judge Angela M. Martinez sentenced Meza to 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Meza faces deportation upon completion of her sentence.
