Illegal Immigrant Pleads Guilty To Pointing Gun At Officer
Published: November 20, 2008
Updated: November 20, 2008
COLUMBIA, South Carolina——United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins stated that Thomas Castro, age 24, of Mexico, pled guilty to federal charges of being a felon in possession of ammunition, and possession of ammunition by an illegal alien. United States District Judge Henry F. Floyd accepted the plea and will sentence Castro at a later date.
On September 20, 2008, Castro was stopped by the Greenville Police for traffic violations while traveling on I-385. When asked to step out of the car, Castro pointed a handgun at the officer, put his vehicle into gear, and sped away. Officers pursued Castro onto Woodruff Road where he exited his vehicle and ran into a wooded area. Castro was apprehended shortly thereafter, and officers found four rounds of ammunition in Castro’s pocket. Despite a search of the area, the firearm was not recovered.
Castro is an illegal alien and has a previous conviction for assault and battery with intent to kill. He is prohibited by federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition.
Castro faces a maximum penalty of 10 years, a fine of $250,000, and a three year term of supervised release on both charges. He will face deportation following any prison sentence he receives.
The case was investigated by agents of the Greenville City Police Department, the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Lance Crick of the Greenville Office handled the case. This prosecution was a part of Operation CeaseFire. CeaseFire is a joint local, state, and federal initiative which seeks to prosecute individuals who unlawfully use, possess, or transfer firearms.
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Reader Reactions
Mr Daniel, you are wrong, all illegal aliens are criminals. They become criminals the minute they step across the border without permission. Then their crimes escalate from there. Maybe bajarat’s commentary isn’t to your liking but he is at least honest. All illegal’s need to be deported to where they came from and then come back legally. There are to many American citizens unemployed right now to allow illegal’s to take any more jobs. And by the way we do have a law in this state called H4400 against illegal immigration, if you haven’t read it, take the time and do so. We can’t be expected to house, educate, medicate and feed every person that is needy in the world.
In response to “BajaRat” I believe your comment is quite racist and uneducated. I am not in any way defending the idiot that decided to point a gun at an officer, thank God no shots were fired and he was apprehended. Not all unducumented aliens are criminals. People immigrate other territories in search for a better life for their family not to become a criminal. “BajaRat” you have quite an imagination, you know it will never happen like that(They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle,). In fact, I don’t believe booting all illegals is going to be necesary the way the economy is headed. Many are already leaving the country because they can’t find jobs. If all this companies keep closing and shipping jobs to other countries where are we gonna go? Would you immigrate to another country? What would you do if that country did not accept you and you desperatly needed a job to feed your family. Lets hope we don’t have to do that.
Illegal aliens are criminals and parasites, one and all. Their very presence here and practically everything they do on U. S. soil is illegal. They need to be ferreted out, rounded up like cattle, punished for their numerous crimes, then booted back to whence they snuck in from with such extreme prejudice that they will never, ever think of violating our sovereignty again. Enough is enough.
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