Texas Border Business
U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas
LAREDO, Texas – A 21-year-old Mexican citizen has been ordered to federal prison for assaulting a Border Patrol agent and inflicting bodily injury.
Marco Cupil-Hernandez, an illegal alien from Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico, pleaded guilty April 28, admitting he struck the agent’s body and face repeatedly while attempting to flee.
U.S. District Judge John A. Kazen has now ordered him to serve 15 months in prison. Not a U.S. citizen, Cupil-Hernandez is expected to face removal proceedings following his imprisonment. He asked for leniency, telling the court he only wanted to escape and did not intend to injure the agent. In handing down the sentence, Judge Kazen said Cupil-Hernandez did more than push the agent away and appeared to have planned to fight, which left the agent with knee and back injuries.
On the evening of Jan. 23, Cupil-Hernandez illegally entered the United Stated by wading across the Rio Grande. Authorities immediately took him into custody. However, Cupil-Hernandez complained of injuries to his knees, and law enforcement then transported him to a local hospital for emergency care.
Medical personnel soon cleared him for release, though he walked with a limp. As the agent attempted to assist him into a vehicle, Cupil-Hernandez forcefully pushed him away and attempted to flee.
A struggle ensued on the concrete. Each time the agent grasped an article of Cupil-Hernandez’s clothing, he removed it. Cupil-Hernandez then elbowed the agent’s face which caused him to lose his hold, at which time Cupil-Hernandez jumped to his feet and fled wearing only his underwear and shoes.
Authorities took him into custody a short time later after discovering him hiding under the covered parking spaces of a nearby gym.
Cupil-Hernandez will remain in custody pending transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of Border Patrol and Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Homero Ramirez prosecuted the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.
Updated September 4, 2025
