Former Agent Pleads Guilty in Kidnap of Mexican Boy

A former U.S. Border Patrol agent accused of kidnaping and terrorizing a 14-year-old Mexican boy pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of kidnaping.

Robert M. Ferrick, 24, originally charged with three counts of kidnaping, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery and attempted extortion, will not go to state prison because of a plea bargain. He will be sentenced in Calexico Municipal Court on Aug. 8 and may serve a maximum sentence of one year in Imperial County Jail.

Ferrick was arrested June 2 after the boy, identified as Enrique R., told Calexico police that Ferrick had terrorized him over a three-day period. He said that after he was apprehended for illegally crossing into the United States from Mexico, Ferrick handcuffed him, cut his hair, forced him to strip and fired a shot near his head.

Police investigators matched Ferrick’s gun to a bullet found at the scene where Ferrick was accused of forcing Enrique to lie on the ground and firing a shot that struck the ground two feet from his head.

Ferrick, who voluntarily resigned from the patrol this week, had been with the Border Patrol about a year and had no other complaints against him, his superiors said.

Dale Musegades, chief agent in charge of the Calexico Border Patrol station, said Enrique had been apprehended by Border Patrol agents 18 times over a nine-month period. He said Ferrick’s conduct was probably the result of “frustration of seeing the same individual over again and again and knowing that nothing could be done to deter him.”

Musegades said Ferrick would have been fired as a result of the conviction if he had not resigned.

Annie Gutierrez, Ferrick’s attorney, said Ferrick took Enrique 10 miles out of Calexico three days in a row. Each time the boy had been picked up by border agents the night before. She said Ferrick demanded money for a pair of binoculars Enrique stole several months earlier, then released him near the border.

Border agents are required to release illegal aliens at an official port of entry. “At the time, he didn’t realize you can’t take someone away from the port of entry for voluntary departure,” Gutierrez said. Kidnaping charges apply because Ferrick detained the boy before releasing him.

Ferrick insisted that he never shot at the boy or made him strip, according to Gutierrez, and only detained him to cut his hair. “He got so frustrated he couldn’t handle it,” she said. “He was so upset he gave the kid a really short haircut.” Gutierrez said the plea bargain included the suspension of a state prison sentence.

Imperial County Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher Yeager said the expected sentence of one year or less is “absolutely consistent” with the offense.

“We felt a plea to one of the serious offenses would accomplish our purpose and would result in a just disposition,” Yeager said. “He was acting excessively but within what he thought was the scope of his authority.”

Gutierrez said Ferrick claimed that driving Enrique 10 miles from town and cutting his hair was a way to teach him a lesson for his illegal entries. “He realizes it wasn’t the best way to handle it,” she said. “It’s a very frustrating job. These juveniles know they aren’t going to be jailed.”