A former Border Patrol agent in Nogales who referred to migrants as “subhuman” was sentenced Wednesday to three years’ probation for intentionally striking a man with an agency pickup while making an arrest.
Matthew Bowen admitted to striking Antolin Lopez Aguilar, a 23-year-old citizen of Guatemala, with an unreasonable amount of force while arresting him for crossing the border illegally in Nogales in December 2017, according to U.S. District Court documents.
Bowen’s wife cried in the back of the Tucson courtroom Wednesday as Judge D. Thomas Ferraro handed down the sentence.
Ferraro said he chose to sentence Bowen to supervised probation rather than the recommended six-month jail sentence plus a year of supervised release so that Bowen would not be able to put this case behind him immediately after sentencing.
“I want you to remember this case,” Ferraro told Bowen.
He warned Bowen that if he commits a crime during probation he’ll be back in court facing jail time.
“I genuinely believe the 36 months probation is a harsher sentence,” Ferraro said, calling six months of jail time the “easy way out.”
Bowen’s case made national headlines after offensive text messages he sent were filed in court. In those messages, he called migrants “disgusting subhuman s-— unworthy of being kindling for a fire.”
In another message, he wrote, “PLEASE let us take the gloves off trump!.” In other messages, he referred to migrants as “beaners” and talked about frying migrants in olive oil.
Defense attorney Sean Chapman defended Bowen’s text messages, saying they referred to a specific case in Texas in 2017, in which one agent was killed and another was injured, and were not comments against immigrants as a whole.
Bowen on Wednesday said he is proud to have served as a Border Patrol agent and apologized for his actions.
“I’m thankful that he was not seriously injured, and I would like to apologize to the victim sincerely,” he said.
Bowen was a 10-year veteran of the Border Patrol when he was placed on indefinite suspension without pay in June 2018 shortly after being indicted. He resigned as part of his plea agreement.
In the Dec. 3, 2017, incident, a Customs and Border Protection camera operator that morning saw Lopez jump the border fence near the Mariposa Port of Entry in Nogales. He ran toward a nearby gas station and hid under a semi-trailer parked there. He ran away when agents arrived.
As Lopez ran, Bowen turned his Ford F-150 pickup and “accelerated aggressively” behind Lopez and “followed closely behind him, striking Lopez Aguilar twice” with the front of the truck, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General wrote in court documents.
Bowen jumped out of his truck and handcuffed Lopez. Two other agents arrived seconds later. Bowen handed over Lopez, who still had gravel on his face, to the two agents and drove away.
Lopez was taken to a Nogales hospital with abrasions to his right hand and both knees. He was sentenced the next day to 30 days in federal prison for crossing the border illegally, court records show.
Chapman said he was relieved Bowen was placed on probation, which will allow him to support his family and re-establish himself in the community.
“He made a mistake in the course of a second and a half, two seconds, which impacted his career,” Chapman said of his client. “He lost his career and was disgraced in a very short period of time.”
Bowen is also required to complete 150 hours of community service in the next three years. A meeting is to be held within 90 days to finalize restitution Bowen will pay the victim.
U.S. Attorney Monica Ryan said Lopez, who was not at the sentencing hearing, thought he was going to die when he saw the truck come after him.
Lopez has not been able to continue physical therapy because he doesn’t have the money for it, Ryan said. She asked for 90 days to submit evidence of lost wages and details of injuries she says have prevented Lopez from working.
