El Paso Man Sentenced For Trying To Run Over Border Patrol Agent

EL PASO, Texas (AP) – A man convicted of trying to run over a U.S. Border Patrol was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison Wednesday.

Gerardo Felipe Ortiz, 28, of El Paso, was convicted in November of one count of assault on a federal officer. A federal judge sentenced him to five years and 10 months in prison for the April incident.

According to prosecutors, Ortiz was spotted by agents Federico Figueroa and Jose O. Garcia exchanging a large amount of cash with another man in a parking lot.

When the agents tried to confront Ortiz and the other man, prosecutors said, Ortiz drove his pickup truck toward Figueroa, who opened fire.

Ortiz, who was shot by a Border Patrol agent during the incident, was arrested when he drove himself to a local hospital.