10 months added for attempted prison escape
A federal prison inmate already serving a prison term for drug trafficking was sentenced again Tuesday, this time for trying to escape from the San Luis Detention Center in San Luis, Ariz.
U.S. District Judge Paul G. Rosenblatt sentenced 42-year-old Jesus A. Murrieta-Perez, who is from San Luis Rio Colorado, Son., to an additional 10 months in prison for the escape attempt.
According to a news release issued by the Office of the United States Attorney, District of Arizona, the 10-month sentence for attempting to escape from federal custody was ordered to run consecutively to his drug violation, resulting in a total term of 97 months in prison for the two offenses.
Murrieta-Perez was sentenced on May 4 to 87 months in federal prison for drug trafficking.
A few days after entering his guilty plea, Murrieta-Perez tried to escape from the San Luis Detention Center, a federally contracted detention facility, by impersonating another inmate who was scheduled for deportation.
His escape attempt was discovered by U.S. Border Patrol agents upon his arrival at the Border Patrol station in Yuma.
In the drug trafficking case, on April 12, 2008, Murrieta-Perez drove up to the San Luis port of entry in a late model Ford Windstar van.
While at the port of entry, a drug detection dog alerted to Murrieta-Perez's vehicle and he was referred to secondary inspection.
A subsequent inspection of the vehicle by customs officers turned up a compartment holding 14 wrapped packages containing methamphetamine that was later determined to be 100 percent pure. The net weight of the packages was determined to be 11.58 kilograms
Murrieta-Perez admitted that he was to receive payment for delivering the drugs and that this was not the first time he had brought illegal narcotics into the United States.
The investigation of the escape case was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service in Yuma, Arizona. The prosecution was handled by Bret Alexander with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona.
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James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854
