A woman shot by a Border Patrol agent during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, pleaded guilty to illegally entering the United States 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 in January. She will not serve time in prison but will have location monitoring and nighttime curfew requirements during her probation, according to court records.
The case is among several involving federal immigration agents’ use of force in January that prompted public concern and official scrutiny of enforcement practices.
The Shooting
The shooting occurred on January 8 in a medical complex parking lot. Zambrano-Contreras and Luis Nino-Moncada were in a pickup truck when Border Patrol agents encountered them. According to court filings, Nino-Moncada put the truck in reverse and repeatedly slammed it into an unoccupied Border Patrol rental car, smashing its headlights and knocking off the front bumper. The truck struck the agent, who fired two rounds out of fear for his life, court documents state.
The FBI said in a court filing that it had found no surveillance or other video of the shooting.
Criminal Charges and Gang Ties
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 both 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 the pair had “some nexus” to the gang and said they came to police attention during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members, but neither was identified as a suspect.
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 ordered Zambrano-Contreras not to be in areas where prostitution is occurring.
Part of a Broader Pattern
The Portland shooting followed a fatal federal shooting in Minneapolis the previous day, where a Border Patrol agent shot and killed a driver during an immigration enforcement operation. Both incidents occurred during a period of heightened federal immigration enforcement operations.
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