Robert Rosas
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.SAN DIEGO - One of five people charged in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent admitted Tuesday that the motivation behind the ambush killing was to get the agent's night-vision equipment.
Emilio Gonzales pleaded guilty to murder of a federal officer in court and faces life in prison at sentencing Oct. 17.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Gonzales admitted in his plea agreement that he and two others crossed from Mexico to a remote area east of San Diego in July 2009 and left footprints in the dirt to lure an agent.
When Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas followed the trio into the brush, they held him at gunpoint. Rosas was shot during a struggle.
The plea agreement said that the group stole Rosas' night-vision device, bag, firearm, handcuffs and other items. The same month of the killing, the men lost a night-vision device they used to smuggle illegal immigrants and drugs.
Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez pleaded guilty to murder in San Diego and was sentenced last year to 40 years in prison; the third man is still at large.
Two other men charged in the case are accused of serving as armed lookouts in Mexico.
Read more: Bandits charged in murder of Border agent were seeking to steal his night-vision gear
..
.SAN DIEGO - One of five people charged in the murder of a U.S. Border Patrol agent admitted Tuesday that the motivation behind the ambush killing was to get the agent's night-vision equipment.
Emilio Gonzales pleaded guilty to murder of a federal officer in court and faces life in prison at sentencing Oct. 17.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that Gonzales admitted in his plea agreement that he and two others crossed from Mexico to a remote area east of San Diego in July 2009 and left footprints in the dirt to lure an agent.
When Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas followed the trio into the brush, they held him at gunpoint. Rosas was shot during a struggle.
The plea agreement said that the group stole Rosas' night-vision device, bag, firearm, handcuffs and other items. The same month of the killing, the men lost a night-vision device they used to smuggle illegal immigrants and drugs.
Christian Daniel Castro Alvarez pleaded guilty to murder in San Diego and was sentenced last year to 40 years in prison; the third man is still at large.
Two other men charged in the case are accused of serving as armed lookouts in Mexico.
Read more: Bandits charged in murder of Border agent were seeking to steal his night-vision gear
