WICHITA, Kan. – Jose Luis Ramirez-Rico, 32, a Mexican national unlawfully in the United States, has pleaded guilty to assaulting a federal agent with a box cutter, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Ramirez-Rico, who lived in Wichita at the time of the incident, entered his guilty plea Tuesday afternoon before U.S. District Judge Eric F. Melgren. Sentencing was set for Aug. 24. Ramirez-Rico faces a maximum sentence of 20 years, but the plea agreement calls for a sentence of 30 months in prison followed by deportation, if the judge approves.

“Cases like this point out the dangers faced every day by law enforcement officers,” Grissom said. “Fortunately, the immigration agents involved in this case were not injured.”

During the plea hearing, Ramirez-Rico admitted that on March 17 he allowed three U.S. Department of Homeland Security agents to enter his residence to look for a person who was subject to deportation. During the process, Ramirez-Rico grabbed a box cutter and lunged at one of the agents. The agent avoided the blade and subdued Ramirez-Rico with the assistance of the other two agents, Grissom said.

Ramirez-Rico was indicted March 29 on one count of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous weapon. The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson.

John P. Tretbar via Geological Survey

The U.S. Geological Survey reports a 4.2 maginutude earthquake hit 14 miles east southeast from Sullivan, Missouri at 3:10 am Tuesday. The temblor occurred 3.2 miles below ground.

Police say the entire town of Sullivan woke up. Dispatchers tell us they got a lot of calls after the quake hit, but everyone seemed to be safe. No one reported any damage.

Officials say the quake could be felt in Jefferson City, Columbia and St Louis.

WAVELAND, Miss. (AP) – Authorities say a man arrested in Mississippi was wanted on charges including the murder of a two-month-old boy and the alleged assault of the baby’s twin brother in Fort Riley, Kan.

Justin Vickers, a spokesman for the U.S. Marshals Service, says 21-year-old Justin Alan Frey also was wanted on charges of desertion from the U.S. Army and flight to avoid prosecution.

Vickers says federal agents and local police arrested Frey Monday in Waveland, Miss. The Sun Herald reports Frey is being held at the Harrison County jail in Gulfport pending extradition.

Arrested with him was 22-year-old Erika Suzanne Frey. Waveland Police Chief James Varnell said the woman was arrested
on a charge of concealing a person from arrest. Vickers says the surviving twin boy is doing fine.
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Information from: The Sun Herald, https://www.sunherald.com

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

(AP) – The Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to a California policy that gives tuition breaks to illegal immigrants to attend public colleges and universities.

The justices on Monday refused to review a California Supreme Court ruling that upheld a state law giving California high school graduates reduced tuition at state schools, regardless of their immigration status. The court did not comment on its action.

The law’s challengers say it conflicts with federal immigration law that prohibits post-secondary education aid to illegal immigrants.

Eleven other states grant similar benefits to illegal immigrants. They are: Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.