Man who threatened Arizona border officials sentenced to prison

A Las Vegas man has been sentenced to prison after threatening to kill five US Customs and Border Protection officers in Arizona.

John Milton Lee, 63, was sentenced Nov. 2, to 33 months in prison. Lee was convicted by a federal jury of smuggling goods from the U.S. and impeding and threatening a federal officer, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Arizona said.

On Nov. 1, 2019, Lee was involved in an hour-long armed standoff at the Lukeville port-of-entry where he repeatedly threatened to shoot and kill five CBP officers with a handgun tucked into his coat, the news release said. During the standoff, Lee also had a fully loaded AR-15 assault rifle within arm’s reach, as well as three fully loaded 30-round-high-capacity AR-15 magazines in his pocket, the release said.

When it became clear to officers that Lee would not surrender, officers used a Taser and took Lee into custody. Six additional firearms — a Tavor Model SAR .223 caliber firearm, a HK 91 .308 caliber rifle, a .22 caliber rifle, two .45 caliber firearms and a .44 Mag caliber firearm — were found in his car after the incident. And 1,962 rounds of ammunition also were discovered

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All of the firearms found were fully loaded with a round in the chamber and ready to fire, the news release said. Lee had more firepower in his vehicle than all the officers on scene combined. 

At the sentencing, Judge James A. Soto told Lee that he was lucky to be alive and that officers were particularly patient and had shown great restraint, the news release said.