By Steve Neavling
A New Mexico man who kidnapped and brutally beat an off-duty Border Patrol agent with a machete in June 2017 was sentenced to 31 years in prison, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
Fernando Angel Puga, 37, of Las Cruces, and his co-defendant Sergio Ivan Quinonez-Venegas, of Mexico, were arrested nearly two years after the attack.
A federal jury found Puga guilty of kidnapping, carjacking causing serious bodily injury and transportation of a stolen vehicle in interstate commerce in May.
Agent Lorenzo Hernandez, who is assigned to the agency’s Deming area, was helping his mother at her food truck when two suspicious men, one of whom had a gun, asked Hernandez for a ride on June 9, saying their car had broken down.
Worried that the men would harm his mother and minor brother and nephew, Hernandez offered the strangers a ride in his 2014 Ford Focus.
One of the suspects stuck a gun into Hernandez’s ribs and said, “This is a kidnapping.”
During a 50-mile drive to an area outside of Las Cruces, the suspects threatened to kill him. When the car stopped, Hernandez confronted the men outside of his car and a struggle over the gun ensued.
Puga struck and stabbed Hernandez with a machete.
Hernandez was taken to the hospital with fractures to his skull and arms and severe stab wounds to his body and fingers.
“When faced with a deadly situation, the victim fought off the attackers and managed to escape,” Jeffrey R. Downey, special agent in charge of the FBI’s El Paso Field Office, said in a statement. “The courage and determination showed by the victim is awe-inspiring. The victim was not only able to escape but also assist law enforcement in the identification and arrest of the defendant and bring about the justice deserved in this violent abduction. We hope this sentencing will help the victim heal from the physical and mental wounds inflicted in this horrific incident.”
Quiñonez-Venegas was arrested June 13 and told FBI agents that he was forced to participate in the kidnapping by Puga. Two days later, the FBI and a local sheriff’s office arrested Puga, who claimed he was kidnapped by Quiñonez-Venegas.
“I am thankful that this violent criminal will have a long time behind bars to reflect on his heinous actions while the community is made safer,” U.S. Attorney Ashley C. Hoff said in a statement. “I am also hopeful that the victim experiences healing and finds some solace in defendant’s removal from society. I laud the efforts of our law enforcement partners who worked to bring Puga to justice.”
Quiñonez-Venegas was sentenced to five years in prison on Sept. 29.
