San Diego
Ruben Gonzalez, who has confessed to killing Mexican customs agent Guillermo Diaz in Gonzalez’s flight across the border Monday night, had his parole revoked in San Diego Thursday by a Superior Court judge.
The parole hearing was conducted without Gonzalez, who faces murder charges in Mexico with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
“It seemed rather likely that we might not see (Gonzalez) in the very near future,” said Judge J. Perry Langford. “It (the probation) could have fallen through the cracks in a few years and not gotten revoked.”
Gonzalez was on five years’ parole in San Diego after serving nine months in County Jail on two convictions for assault with a deadly weapon.
Langford decided to hold the parole hearing immediately after hearing Gonzalez say on a television broadcast that he had acted in self-defense Monday night. It was the same defense Langford had heard in presiding over Gonzalez’ earlier case.
“It’s unusual to revoke probation based on a television broadcast,” Langford said. “The striking thing was that those words on the television were chillingly familiar.”
Gonzalez has confessed to shooting Diaz when Diaz stepped out of his booth at the international border with gun drawn. Gonzalez was fleeing with his brother, Mario, from San Diego police after a supermarket robbery. The two were apprehended by Tijuana police.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
