A Tucson man who fled a U.S. Border Patrol immigration checkpoint last year while awaiting separate trials for DUI and drug charges is finally set to be sentenced in the federal case, six months after COVID-19 precautions delayed his first sentencing hearing.
Gilman, who turns 56 next week, was initially set to be sentenced in March, but the hearing was cancelled after non-essential court proceedings were put on hold in response to the pandemic.
Court records show Gilman’s federal charge stems from an Aug. 9, 2019 incident that started when a USBP agent asked for consent to search the trunk of the vehicle Gilman was driving. Instead, he drove way, hitting speeds of nearly 110 mph, and was able to evade arrest when agents had to stop the pursuit due to safety concerns.
Agents later identified Gilman through vehicle registration records and his Arizona driver’s license photograph. At the time, he was awaiting trial on a May 2019 felony drug charge in Pima County and a July 2019 DUI charge out of Pinal County.
“When agents directed me to secondary for further inspection, I then took off at a high rate of speed,” Gilman admitted in his plea agreement. “I fled from the checkpoint at speeds over the legal speed limit of 55 miles per hour. Border Patrol agents pursued at speeds of approximately 110 miles per hour before their pursuit was called off.”
Gilman was finally taken into custody in early October on a federal arrest warrant and turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service. A magistrate judge then determined there was “a serious risk” Gilman would not appear for trial and ordered Gilman to remain in pretrial detention under the control of the USMS.
The maximum prison term for the fleeing from a federal checkpoint charge is five years followed by three years of supervised release. However, Gilman’s plea deal calls for him to serve no more than 21 months with the Federal Bureau of Prison to be followed by some period of supervised probation.
The length of Gilman’s prison term and post-release supervision will be decided by Nash at the sentencing hearing. Gilman will receive credit for time served since his arrest.
This will not be Gilman’s first time in prison.
In December 2017, he was released by the Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) after serving time for weapons misconduct and a drug violation out of Cochise County. He was returned to prison in February 2018 for noncompliance of post-release community supervision, getting out again in August 2018.
After his release, Gilman had several interactions with law enforcement agencies as reflected by the cases in Pima and Pinal counties. He is also the subject of three outstanding citations issued by Tucson PD on charges of shoplifting, criminal trespass, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
In the felony drug case, Gilman was sentenced earlier this year in Pima County Superior Court to three years of intensive supervised probation. His TPD cases will be heard by a magistrate in the Tucson Municipal Court.