NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer was sentenced to 20 months in prison for violating the civil rights of a U.S. citizen in New Mexico and falsifying records in a federal investigation.
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, former officer Oscar Orrantia was working at the Columbus Port of Entry when he encountered a 63-year-old man who was a U.S. citizen.
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The man was complaining about the heat, and in response, Orrantia pulled the man out of his vehicle and performed a “take-down,” where he threw the victim into a side barrier, which resulted in the victim hitting his head. John Doe sustained bruising to his body and head as a result, according to the Department of Justice.
Orrantia placed the victim in handcuffs and took him inside the facility. He then wrote an official report filled with false statements, the DOJ said in a news release. Orrantia was convicted by a federal jury of one count of deprivation of a right and one count of falsification of records in December 2023.
Upon his release from prison, Orrantia will be subject to three years of supervised release.
