A man from Mexico received a five-year prison sentence after he set his apartment building on fire and assaulted a federal officer while trying to avoid deportation in Gwinnett County.
Armando Carrillo-Diaz, 45, pleaded guilty in January to assaulting a federal officer, arson and illegally reentering the United States. U.S. District Judge Mark H. Cohen sentenced him on June 11 to five years in prison followed by one year of supervised release.
What We Know: According to court information, deportation officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement tried to arrest Carrillo-Diaz on April 26, 2023, in his apartment complex parking lot. He nearly struck one officer as he fled in a pickup truck.
When officers returned to his residence to find him, Carrillo-Diaz set his apartment on fire to avoid capture. The fire spread through the building, forcing the Gwinnett County Fire Department to evacuate other residents.
When officers tried to arrest him, Carrillo-Diaz cut his own throat with a box cutter. Officers gave him medical aid and took him to a local hospital.
A federal grand jury charged him with the crimes on June 26, 2024. Carrillo-Diaz is from Rioverde, San Luis Potosí, Mexico.
In Context: “When illegal aliens resort to extreme and dangerous measures to avoid removal, they not only violate our immigration laws but also put law enforcement officers and the public at risk,” said U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.
The case was part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together law enforcement and communities to reduce violent crime. Assistant United States Attorney Dash A. Cooper prosecuted the case.
The case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Gwinnett County Fire Department.
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B.T. Clark
B.T. Clark is an award-winning journalist and the Publisher of The Georgia Sun. He has 25 years of experience in journalism and served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta for 15 years and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc. for 8 years. His work has appeared in several newspapers throughout the state including Neighbor Newspapers, The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal. He is a Georgia native and a fifth-generation Georgian.
