U.S. Agent Is Accused of Assaulting Salvadoran

A federal grand jury in San Diego charged Friday that a U.S. agent based at the immigration detention center in El Centro assaulted a Salvadoran citizen who was in federal custody.

The agent, Agustin G. Martinez, 36, an immigration detention officer who lives in El Centro, was indicted on a single misdemeanor count of assault in violation of the victim’s civil rights. If convicted, Martinez--who was suspended from his duties with pay Friday--faces a year in jail and a fine of $100,000.

The investigation of the case is ongoing and Martinez could face additional charges of obstruction of justice and/or making false statements to authorities, said assistant U.S. Atty. John R. Kraemer.

Martinez, who was arraigned Friday before U.S. Magistrate Roger C. McKee in San Diego, pleaded innocent to the charge, said his attorney, Doug Brown. Martinez will continue receiving his salary until a review of his case is completed, said Robert H. Mandgie, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service’s assistant district director for detentions and deportations in San Diego. The accused agent could eventually be suspended without pay, and, if convicted, dismissed from the service, Mandgie said.

Recovered From Assault

On Oct. 20, authorities charged, Martinez used a night stick to assault Jose Nelson Salinas Murillo, a 20-year-old illegal alien from El Salvador who was being held at El Centro pending his deportation. Salinas Murillo was treated for injuries to his neck, arms and head, authorities said, but has apparently recovered.

The alleged assault occurred on an immigration service bus that was parked on the detention facility’s grounds, waiting to transport Salinas Murillo and more than a dozen other apprehended aliens to Los Angeles for eventual return to their home countries. The attack apparently began after one of the aliens made an obscene gesture at Martinez, Kraemer said. The alleged attack prompted an investigation by the INS Office of Professional Responsibility--an internal affairs unit--which turned its findings over to the U.S. attorney’s office in San Diego for prosecution.

Since the incident, authorities said, Martinez had been reassigned to administrative duties at El Centro, and has been out of contact with inmates. He is now prohibited from entering the detention center.

Potential Witnesses

Along with Salinas Murillo, authorities are holding 15 other illegal aliens who were on the bus and are potential witnesses to the incident.

For the last two years, authorities said, Martinez has been assigned to the El Centro detention center, where more than 400 undocumented foreigners are currently being held pending deportation and other immigration proceedings. Previously, Martinez had served as a U.S. Border Patrol agent, based in Calexico, and as a guard at the federal prison in El Reno, Okla. Martinez is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who served in Vietnam, his lawyer noted.

Martinez is the second official from the detention center to be accused of crimes in the past year. Last July, Donnie Lazzarotto, a six-year veteran of the immigration service, was sentenced to two years in jail after pleading guilty to felony corruption charges arising from a scheme to sell immigration documents to illegal aliens facing deportation. Lazzarotto resigned from the service.