SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Mexican man in the United States has pleaded guilty to impersonating a Border Patrol agent and following federal immigration officers to divert them while they were out on immigration enforcement missions in Southern California.
Jamie Ernesto Alvarez-Gonzalez admitted to following a Border Patrol agent on Jan. 8 while he was driving in a neighborhood in San Diego, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California.
Prosecutors said Alvarez-Gonzalez’s black Ford F-150, a model also used by undercover federal officers, had a license plate with federal truck written on the frame in small letters, though the word federal was misspelled. He put a Border Patrol sticker in the windshield and non-working radio communications antennae on the roof, according to the complaint. Handcuffs were hung from the rearview mirror.
The agent aborted his mission when he saw Alvarez-Gonzalez following him, falsely believing other agents were responding, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
When Alvarez-Gonzalez was confronted by real agents, he “shouted obscenities and demanded agents leave the community of Linda Vista," prosecutors said. Three other cars also arrived at one point and began harassing departing agents and chasing them on the highway.
Prosecutors said Alvarez-Gonzalez had made a recording where he said he was actively looking for federal agents working on immigration enforcement and had brought in his “reinforcements.” He also had a fake FBI badge.
He pleaded guilty to one count of impersonating a federal agent and three counts of illegally possessing firearms. His federal public defender did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Alvarez-Gonzalez overstayed his tourist visa, which he used decades ago to enter the country, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.
FILE - A U.S Border Patrol badge is displayed as Gregory Bovino, chief patrol agent of the U.S. Border Patrol's El Centro Sector, stands in a conference room before an interview with The Associated Press in Los Angeles, Aug. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Milwaukee’s Jackson Chourio and Andrew Vaughn are beginning rehabilitation assignments with hopes of being activated from the injured list by Monday.
Both players flew to Nashville — the home of the Brewers' Triple-A affiliate — on Tuesday as they recover from fractured bones in their left hands. Chourio hasn’t played at all this season, while Vaughn appeared in just one game before going on the injured list.
“It feels like it's finally here,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said before the Brewers' 13-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday night. “That's a great feeling.”
Chourio was hit by a pitch from Washington’s Clayton Beeter while playing for Venezuela’s World Baseball Classic team in a March 4 exhibition with the Nationals at West Palm Beach, Florida.
The 22-year-old outfielder missed Venezuela’s first two World Baseball Classic games but returned to the lineup and helped his home country win the title. When Chourio felt bothered while attempting a check swing in late March, an MRI revealed a small hairline fracture at the base of the third metacarpal.
Chourio batted .270 with a .308 on-base percentage, 21 homers, 78 RBIs and 21 steals in 131 games.
Murphy acknowledged the frustration Chourio must be feeling from having to wait so long to make his season debut.
“It's one of those injuries where you don't want to risk the catastrophe of having to have surgery on it because you didn't give it proper time,” Murphy said. “But you feel great in the meantime. Like, ‘Why can’t I play?' But the recommendation is to make sure that it's in a space where the tendon's not going to be affected and you're not going to need surgery. Going through this has got to be tough on him. He loves to play.”
The 28-year-old Vaughn was injured during an at-bat in the Brewers' 14-2 season-opening win over the Chicago White Sox. He was diagnosed with a fractured hamate bone.
Vaughn hit .308 with a .375 on-base percentage, nine homers and 46 RBIs in 64 games with the Brewers after they acquired him from the Chicago White Sox last season. He had hit just .189 with a .218 on-base percentage, five homers ad 19 RBIs in 48 games with the White Sox.
The Brewers have struggled to produce much power with Chourio, Vaughn and Christian Yelich all on the injured list. Yelich has an adductor strain and is expected to return in mid to late May.
Milwaukee hadn't homered in seven straight games until Sal Frelick ended the drought Tuesday with a leadoff blast in the second inning. That represented the Brewers’ longest stretch without a homer since 1999, when they went a franchise-record 13 straight games without going deep.
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FILE - Milwaukee Brewers' William Contreras looks back as he runs home to score on an RBI single by Andrew Vaughn during the sixth inning of an opening-day baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Thursday, March 26, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)
FILE - Milwaukee Brewers Jackson Chourio looks on from the dugout railing during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Friday, April 10, 2026, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Kayla Wolf, File)
