A Mexican citizen who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in the shooting death of a U.S. Border Patrol agent near the Arizona border in 2010 was sentenced Monday to 30 years in federal prison.
Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, 37, was sentenced during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Tucson to 360 months in prison, with credit for 38 months served.
The case drew international attention when two AK-47s found at the scene were traced back to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' failed "Fast and Furious" gun investigation.
The mother and two sisters of slain U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry spoke during the hearing, telling the court that his death at age 40 sent shock waves through the tight-knit family.
"Manuel, you've taken a hero from us, but you can't take his honor," Terry's sister, Kelly, said, glancing over her shoulder at the orange-jumpsuit-clad defendant, whose feet were shackled and hands chained to his waist.
In pleading guilty, Osorio-Arellanes admitted he was in the United States illegally to rob smugglers but denied firing the shot that killed Terry, a member of the Border Patrol's elite BORSTAR unit.
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