Woman shot by Border Patrol during Oregon immigration stop sentenced for illegally entering US

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A woman who was shot and wounded by a Border Patrol agent during a recent immigration stop in Portland, Oregon, pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally entering the U.S. and was sentenced to one year of probation.

Yorlenys Zambrano-Contreras appeared by video from an immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, for the federal court hearing in Portland, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. She won’t face time in prison but will have location monitoring and certain nighttime curfew requirements during probation. She will be able to remain out of custody in Oregon under the negotiated resolution of the case, the news outlet reported.

The case was initially filed in Texas, where she was accused of illegally entering the U.S., but she waived her right to appear there for prosecution, the outlet reported.

The shooting on Jan. 8, one day after a federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over agents’ aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement operations.

The FBI said in a court filing that it had found no surveillance or other video of the shooting, in which a Border Patrol agent wounded Zambrano-Contreras and Luis Nino-Moncada while they were in a pickup truck in a medical complex parking lot.

According to court filings, the agent opened fire after Nino-Moncada put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed into an unoccupied car Border Patrol agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The truck struck the agent, and he fired two rounds out of fear for his life, the filings say.

Nino-Moncada has been indicted on charges of aggravated assault on a federal employee and damaging federal property. He has pleaded not guilty and remains in custody, with a jury trial set for March.

The Department of Homeland Security said Zambrano-Contreras and Nino-Moncada entered the U.S. illegally in 2023 and 2022, respectively, and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.

Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed that the pair had “some nexus” to the gang. He said the two came to the attention of police during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members, but they were not identified as suspects.

Zambrano-Contreras was previously arrested for prostitution, Day said, and Nino-Moncada was present when a search warrant was served in that case.

On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie Beckerman also ordered Zambrano-Contreras not to be in areas where prostitution is occurring, the Oregonian/OregonLive reported.