2 Agents Charged in Alleged Beating

Two Border Patrol agents faced charges Wednesday for allegedly beating an undocumented immigrant inside a holding cell in San Diego County--the first such criminal case in Southern California in approximately three years, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Robert V. Curtin, 26, and John R. Wallace, 38, pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in San Diego to charges that they assaulted Erik Mendoza-Rubio of Mexico after he was arrested last summer.

A federal grand jury indicted the two agents Friday on charges of violating Mendoza’s civil rights and abusing their official powers. If convicted, they could receive a maximum of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. They remain free on $25,000 bond.

Mendoza, 21, will be allowed to remain in the United States until the resolution of the case, U.S. officials said. He could not be reached for comment.

Curtin’s and Wallace’s attorneys strongly denied the charges Wednesday but said that neither they nor their clients would comment in detail.

Ben Bauman, a spokesman for the patrol’s San Diego sector, said the men, who joined the force about six years ago, were put on paid administrative leave Wednesday. They had been transferred to office duties last summer when the investigation began, Bauman said.

“They are innocent until proven guilty,� he said. “These agents will have an opportunity to address the accusations in court. U.S. Border Patrol agents are held to the highest professional and moral standards ... and allegations against two individuals should not be allowed to tarnish the reputation of nearly 10,000 dedicated agents nationwide.�

The Border Patrol’s San Diego sector employs 1,700 agents and is responsible for guarding 66 miles of the border with Mexico. The region has historically been a hotbed of migrant smuggling.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Tenorio, who is prosecuting the case, said Mendoza was arrested by San Diego police last Aug. 30 in Chula Vista. Mendoza was a passenger in a car that allegedly held two smuggled migrants in the trunk, Tenorio said. Because he was suspected of being an illegal immigrant and possibly a smuggler, he was turned over to the U.S Border Patrol.

Mendoza was transferred to a holding cell in the agency’s Chula Vista station. He was never charged with smuggling.

In the holding cell, the indictment alleges, Curtin and Wallace assaulted Mendoza causing “bodily injury.� Tenorio said he could not discuss the extent of the injuries, but they were severe enough to require medical treatment.

“We get quite a few allegations� of abuse by Border Patrol agents, Tenorio said, but “it is pretty hard to corroborate them. In this one, we had reliable corroborating evidence.�

Tenorio said he would not elaborate on the evidence until the trial, which is yet to be scheduled.

He said the last time a Border Patrol agent in the California-Mexico border was criminally charged was nearly three years ago.

There have been prosecutions in other parts of the country. Two years ago, a Border Patrol agent in Hidalgo County, Texas, was indicted on charges that he beat a suspected illegal border crosser in the head with a flashlight.

Tenorio said many cases are handled administratively. Earlier this year, another San Diego Border Patrol agent who had been accused of abuse agreed to resign to avoid prosecution, Tenorio said.

Claudia Smith, border project director with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, a migrants advocacy and watchdog group, said that reports of violence by Border Patrol agents have dropped significantly, but that rough treatment persists.

Migrants tell her they are safe as long as they don’t run from the agents, Smith said. But “whether they run or not, or mouth off or not, it is no justification for excessive use of force.�