A man charged with first-degree murder in the death of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was extradited from Mexico to the United States on Thursday, authorities said.
Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Laura E. Duffy of the Southern District of California said in a statement that Ivan Soto-Barrazza was scheduled to be arraigned in federal district court in Tucson, Arizona on Aug. 1.
Terry was fatally shot on Dec. 14, 2010, when he and three other Border Patrol agents were attacked by five Mexican drug cartel gunmen. The bandits were armed with two AK-47-style assault rifles purchased through the government's Operation Fast and Furious, a botched investigation that encouraged U.S. gun dealers to illegally sell some 2,000 weapons to the Sinaloa drug cartel.
"This marks another step forward in our aggressive pursuit of those responsible for the murder of Agent Brian Terry, who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving his country," Holder said in the statement. "We will never stop seeking justice against those who do harm to our best and bravest."
The indictment charges Soto-Barraza and others with first degree murder, second degree murder, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, attempted interference with commerce by robbery, use and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence and assault on a federal officer. In addition to the murder of Terry, the indictment alleges that Soto-Barrazza and four others assaulted Border Patrol agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza and Timothy Keller, who were with Terry during the firefight.
Another suspect in the attack, Jesus Leonel Sanchez Meza, was extradited from Mexico to the United States last month. Manuel Osorio Arellanes received a 30-year prison sentence earlier this year in connection with the murder.
According to prosecutors, two suspects remain at large in Mexico: Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga and Heraclio "Laco" Osorio-Arellanes.
Terry's death in 2010 prompted a congressional investigation which revealed high-level Washington approval of the illicit gun operation. The scandal led to the first-ever contempt finding against a U.S. attorney general, after Holder refused to turn over emails that, some lawmakers suspected, could reveal executive branch complicity in the operation.
Fox News' William La Jeunesse contributed to this report.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
