Florida Man Faces Jail Time After Failing to Stop at Sierra Blanca Checkpoint
A Florida man is serving an eight-month prison term for “assault on a federal agent,” after he declined to answer questions and drove away from the Sierra Blanca Border Patrol checkpoint last fall.
Michael Sophin approached the Sierra Blanca checkpoint, on Interstate 10, at about 7:45 p.m. Oct. 3, 2014, and he filmed his encounter with a Border Patrol agent there. When the agent asked Sophin whether he was an American citizen, Sophin said he did “not want to answer any questions.” Sophin then drove away from the checkpoint, bidding the agent a “good night” – as Sophin drove away, the agent called after him that he was “not free to go.”
Border Patrol agents left the checkpoint to pursue Sophin and return him to the checkpoint, to determine his citizenship, according to the criminal complaint filed for the incident. There were “communication issues,” the complaint said, and the agents thought they were seeking a Dodge Charger; Sophin was in fact driving a Dodge Magnum.
The agents passed Sophin, driving at approximately 130 miles hour, before realizing the error. The agents stopped Sophin at the 111 milemarker, about 4 miles east of Sierra Blanca.
Sophin told the website photographyisnotacrime.com that he remained under the speed limit as he drove away from the checkpoint – and that he pulled over as soon as he saw the flashing lights of the agents’ vehicle. The criminal complaint alleged that Sophin was “non-compliant and argumentative” toward the agents.
According to the criminal complaint, Border Patrol agents found small amounts of cocaine, marijuana, LSD and psilocybin mushrooms in Sophin’s vehicle – as well as an AR-15 rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, three handguns, body armor, tactical gear and ammunition.
According to the Border Patrol, Sophin said that he did not partake in illegal drugs and, because he was not present when his vehicle was searched, did “not believe the narcotics were discovered in his vehicle.”
Agents also found what they described as a “large amount of anti-government propaganda.” Sophin said they were referring to a book by libertarian talk show host and activist Adam Kokesh, called FREEDOM!, and copies of The New American Magazine, which is published by the John Birch Society.
Sophin was jailed in El Paso for the next 18 days, and he was initially charged with “high speed flight from an immigration checkpoint,” a felony offense. Prosecutors later opted to charge him instead with “assault on a federal agent,” a misdemeanor offense. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized Sophin’s firearms through asset forfeiture. It is not known whether Sophin was charged for the alleged drug possession.
Sophin’s case went before an El Paso jury in January, and the jury found him guilty of the misdemeanor assault charge. A federal magistrate sentenced Sophin to eight months in federal prison, with credit for the time he had already spent in jail in El Paso. Sophin was out on bond this month, pending appeal of the case.
Though they have existed for decades, internal Border Patrol checkpoints have become a flashpoint in recent years, as both libertarian and immigration-rights activists have criticized the checkpoints, and videos of people refusing to answer citizenship or other questions have circulated widely on the Internet.
While some critics say the checkpoints violate the Fourth Amendment of the Constitution, which prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures, the Border Patrol points to a 1976 Supreme Court decision and other court decisions affirming the authority of Border Patrol agents to conduct searches within a “reasonable distance” of the border. Federal prosecutors’ decision to seek jail time for Sophin could reflect a move to affirm the legitimacy of the checkpoints, amidst the criticism.