SAN DIEGO -
A suspected drug smuggler from Mexico accused of
killing a U.S. Border Patrol agent in Imperial County pleaded not guilty Friday
in San Diego to second-degree murder and other charges.
Jesus Navarro-Montes is accused of running over 32-year-old Border Agent Agent Luis Aguilar in a Hummer H2 on Jan. 19, 2008, in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.
An indictment further alleges that Navarro-Montes conspired to distribute marijuana until the day Aguilar -- a father of two -- was killed.
Navarro-Montes was first arrested on Jan. 22, 2008, in Sonora, Mexico, and held in a Mexicali prison until June 2008, when he was released because U.S. authorities did not ask for his extradition, according to Mexican authorities.
Navarro-Montes was indicted last February by a grand jury in San Diego and charged with possession with intent to distribute 980 pounds of marijuana in September 2007.
He was re-arrested Feb. 11 near Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and extradited to the United States to face murder and other charges in the death Aguilar. He was held in Houston before being transferred to San Diego.
Navarro-Montes was charged with murder, possession of marijuana and conspiracy in a superseding indictment unsealed last May.
If convicted of murder, he faces life in prison.
Magistrate Judge William Gallo ordered Navarro-Montes held without bail pending a hearing Tuesday, after Assistant U.S. Attorney David Leshner asked the judge to detain the defendant based on risk of flight and a danger to the community.
Jesus Navarro-Montes is accused of running over 32-year-old Border Agent Agent Luis Aguilar in a Hummer H2 on Jan. 19, 2008, in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area.
An indictment further alleges that Navarro-Montes conspired to distribute marijuana until the day Aguilar -- a father of two -- was killed.
Navarro-Montes was first arrested on Jan. 22, 2008, in Sonora, Mexico, and held in a Mexicali prison until June 2008, when he was released because U.S. authorities did not ask for his extradition, according to Mexican authorities.
Navarro-Montes was indicted last February by a grand jury in San Diego and charged with possession with intent to distribute 980 pounds of marijuana in September 2007.
He was re-arrested Feb. 11 near Zihuatanejo, Mexico, and extradited to the United States to face murder and other charges in the death Aguilar. He was held in Houston before being transferred to San Diego.
Navarro-Montes was charged with murder, possession of marijuana and conspiracy in a superseding indictment unsealed last May.
If convicted of murder, he faces life in prison.
Magistrate Judge William Gallo ordered Navarro-Montes held without bail pending a hearing Tuesday, after Assistant U.S. Attorney David Leshner asked the judge to detain the defendant based on risk of flight and a danger to the community.
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