Man Gets 5 1/2 Years for Firing at FBI Agent During Investigation

A U.S. district judge on Monday sentenced a Tustin mortgage broker to 5 1/2 years in prison for shooting at an FBI agent.

Alexander Thomas Pirro, 45, was convicted in August of shooting one round at an FBI special agent who had gone to his home as part of an investigation.

FBI Special Agent John E. Carroll went to Pirro’s Cowan Heights home Oct. 7 to interview him for a bank fraud investigation in which Pirro was not a suspect, said Susan Ficcadenti, assistant U.S. district attorney.

Pirro “had worked for the mortgage company and the agent went to see if they could get records,” she said.

Prosecutors said Pirro refused to cooperate, and after Carroll walked to his car, Pirro fired a shot at him from his front door.

Pirro’s family, however, said he shot in self-defense because he did not know who Carroll was. Whether the agent clearly identified himself was a point of contention throughout the trial.

“The guy was banging on the door and then went in the backyard and snooped around in the yard,” said Pirro’s brother, Chris. “My brother went outside with the gun and the gun accidentally discharged. . . . Because of one man’s unprofessionalism, who didn’t properly identify himself, our whole family is suffering.”

The agent was not hit. Ficcadenti said Pirro later surrendered to authorities.

Pirro was found guilty of assault on a federal officer and using a firearm during the assault.