A Mexican man living in the US donned outrageous disguises to disrupt deportation missions near the southern border, newly released court documents show.
Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez, 53, pled guilty in San Diego federal court Tuesday to one count of impersonating a federal agent and three counts of illegally possessing firearms. He overstayed his tourist visa decades ago, according to prosecutors.
In one Jan. 8 caper, Alvarez-Gonzalez closely followed an actual Border Patrol agent while both were driving black, Ford F-150 trucks.
Alvarez-Gonzalez’s truck appeared to be undercover Border Patrol, with a Border Patrol windshield sticker, fake radio antennae, a lightbar, a license plate frame marked “FERDERAL TRUCK,” and handcuffs dangling from the rearview, prosecutors said.
He wore a face mask and thin green line baseball cap of the kind worn by Border Patrol supporters — and made a recording in which he said he was actively looking for federal law enforcement involved in deportation missions.
The real agent who was being followed by Alvarez-Gonzalez bought his schtick and pulled away from his mission in order to let Alvarez-Gonzalez finish the job.
When confronted by agents, Alvarez-Gonzalez shouted obscenities at them and demanded they leave the community of Linda Vista.
At some point, three additional vehicles drove to the agents’ location and began harassing the departing agents, chasing them on the highway.
Alvarez-Gonzalez crowed about the incident on video and bragged to have brought in his “reinforcements.”
When ICE agents finally arrested Alvarez-Gonzalez on Jan. 16, he carried a phony FBI badge bearing the words “special agent,” prosecutors charge.
Investigators later tied Alvarez-Gonzalez to three illegal firearms including a Glock pistol, an AR-style rifle, and a Kalashnikov-style pistol. The government also seized ammunition from his business.
Photos collected by prosecutors showed that Alvarez-Gonzalez traveled to Texas to shoot the firearms and pose with them at a gun range in Houston. One pic of Alvarez-Gonzalez with his Kalashnikov bore the legend “PANCHO VILLA EN USA.”
Other photos obtained by prosecutors showed Alvarez-Gonzalez posing in front of a real Border Patrol truck on one occasion and standing before a “NO TRESPASSING” sign at a fortified section of the US-Mexico border while wearing a vest and a badge in another.
He faces up to three years in prison for the false personation of a federal officer and up to 15 years in prison for the weapons charges.
