Slain Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

A sixth man convicted for his role in the 2010 murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.

Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, a Mexican gang member, was convicted by a jury in February of nine criminal counts, including first- and second-degree murder.

The case led to the discovery of the Fast and Furious scandal.

Terry was fatally shot during a firefight with a seven-men “rip crew” that robbed smugglers crossing the Arizona-Mexico border.

“A life sentence for Agent Terry’s murder cannot eliminate his family’s suffering. But it is our hope that this sentence brings some degree of comfort to Agent Terry’s family in knowing that the individuals responsible for his murder will be held accountable,” said Robert Brewer, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, according to AZCentral.com.

Roy Villareal, the chief patrol officer for Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector, applauded the sentencing.

“Today brings us one step closer to justice for Agent Brian Terry’s murder,” Villareal said. “The sentencing brings a painful time closer to an end and serves as a reminder of the grave dangers our agents face in their selfless commitment to the safety of their communities and country.”

FBI Special Agent Jill Sanborn.

By Steve Neavling

ticklethewire.com

Jill Sanborn, who most recently served as the special agent in charge of the Minneapolis Field Office, has been named assistant director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters in Washington D.C.

Sanborn brings plenty of experience as a counterterrorism agent.

Sanborn began her career as a special agent with the FBI in 1998, when she was assigned to the Phoenix office to investigate bank fraud and computer intrusions. For most of her 20-plus-year career, Sanborn has been involved in counterterrorism operations, holding leadership positions in the Washington and Los Angeles field offices.

In 2001, she joined the Phoenix Joint Terrorism Task Force before becoming a member of the Counterterrorism Division’s Fly Team in 2006. On the fly team, Sanborn served in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom, Kenya, and Pakistan.

In 2010, Sanborn began serving as the acting deputy director for law enforcement at the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center. The following year, she was promoted to unit chief in the Counterterrorism Division, taking charge of more than 400 extraterritorial investigations covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Southeast Asia.

In 2012, Sanborn returned to the field as a supervisory special agent at the Washington Field Office, managing overseas kidnapping cases and the extradition of four high-value terrorism subjects.

In 2015, Sanborn’s next promotion took her to the Los Angeles Field Office, where she served as assistant special agent in charge – a position that put her in charge of overseeing counterterrorism issues in Orange County and the cities of West Covina and Riverside in California. That’s where Sanborn served as the assistant special agent in charge of investigating the 2015 San Bernardino terrorism attack that left 14 dead and 22 injured.

In 2016, Sanborn was promoted to section chief in the Counterterrorism Division at headquarters, overseeing all counterterrorism investigations overseas. Then in 2018, she was named head of the Minneapolis Field Office.

Sanborn earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Portland.

Before joining the FBI, she served as an investigator at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.