A Phoenix man, Brandon Hall, was sentenced last week to 48 months in custody for Assaulting a Federal Officer with a Deadly Weapon. The 33-year-old’s sentence is to be followed by three years of supervised release.
According to the Department of Justice, on July 8, 2022, United States Border Patrol agents received information that seven suspected undocumented non-citizens had entered a silver 2011 Ford Edge near Naco, Arizona. Agents responded to the area and located the vehicle suspected of transporting the group. After initially yielding to law enforcement, Hall, who was driving the Ford Edge, sped up and drove directly at a Border Patrol agent approaching on foot. Hall narrowly missed hitting the agent, as the agent had leapt onto his service vehicle’s hood. Hall then proceeded to drive at nearly 90 miles per hour on State Route 92, passing vehicles on the shoulder, driving through a stop sign, and barely avoiding colliding with other vehicles on the road. Border Patrol agents later found Hall and arrested him, along with his co-defendant, Martina Vega, who was riding in the vehicle’s front seat.
Vega, Hall’s co-defendant, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Transport Illegal Aliens for Profit While Placing in Jeopardy the Life of Another Person. Vega was sentenced to 15 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.