Overview
- Jaime Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez, 53, pleaded guilty Tuesday in San Diego federal court to impersonating a federal officer and three firearms counts, and prosecutors say he faces up to 18 years in prison and $500,000 in fines with sentencing pending.
- Prosecutors say he trailed a real Border Patrol agent on Jan. 8 in San Diego in a black Ford F-150 made to look official, leading the agent to abort his assignment in a safety step known as deconfliction, when officers pause to avoid overlapping operations.
- His truck displayed a Border Patrol sticker, fake radio antennas, a dashboard lightbar, a license-frame reading “Ferderal Truck,” and handcuffs, and he wore a face mask and a thin green line cap that evoked Border Patrol gear.
- He recorded himself searching for immigration agents and claiming to have called in “reinforcements,” after which additional cars harassed agents and chased them on the highway.
- ICE arrested him Jan. 14 and investigators say they seized a fake FBI-style badge, three illegal firearms and ammunition, with photos from a Houston shooting range and records showing he overstayed a tourist visa decades ago.