Man in country illegally faces 10 years for gun possession

TAMPA, Fla. – A Florida man who came to the U.S. from Mexico illegally as a teen is facing up to 10 years in prison for having a gun that he said he used to kill someone in self-defence.

Court records show that 34-year-old Juan Carlos Ramirez-Arcos pleaded guilty Wednesday in Tampa federal court to possessing a firearm or ammunition as an illegal alien. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 19.

Authorities say Ramirez-Arcos fatally shot Jose Luis Mendoza-Aguilar during a confrontation in Bradenton in October 2015. Ramirez-Arcos was tried for murder in state court in 2017, but jurors agreed that he acted in self-defence.

Authorities say U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested Ramirez-Arcos several weeks after his acquittal.

Ramirez-Arcos’s defence attorney, Richard Reinhart, told the Bradenton Herald that the prosecution of a man defending himself was pathetic.