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.
🛑 🛑 🛑
Before You Dismiss This Article…
We live in a time when information feels overwhelming, but here’s what hasn’t changed: facts exist whether they comfort us or not.
When A&W launched their third-pound burger to compete with McDonald’s Quarter Pounder in the 1980s, it failed spectacularly. Not because it tasted worse, but because customers thought 1/3 was smaller than 1/4. If basic math can trip us up, imagine how easily we can misread complex news.
The press isn’t against you when it reports something you don’t want to hear. Reporters are thermometers, not the fever itself. They’re telling you what verified sources are saying, not taking sides. Good reporting should challenge you — that’s literally the job.
Next time a story makes you angry, pause. Ask yourself: What evidence backs this up? Am I reacting with my brain or my gut? What would actually change my mind? And most importantly, am I assuming bias just because the story doesn’t match what I hoped to hear.
Smart readers choose verified information over their own comfort zone.
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.
