A man who shot an off-duty federal border officer in the face in a Manhattan park was sentenced on Monday, October 5, to 15 years in federal prison, the most the law allows for his charge. Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 22, a citizen of the Dominican Republic, pleaded guilty to having ammunition while in the United States illegally. The officer, shot in the face and right arm, fired back and hit him twice.
Story Highlights
- Miguel Francisco Mora Nunez, 22, received 180 months, or 15 years, the maximum for his charge.
- Christhian Aybar-Berroa, 23, who drove the getaway motorbike, received 151 months, about 12 and a half years.
- The shooting happened on July 19, 2025, at about 11:50 p.m. in Fort Washington Park in Manhattan.
- Both men entered the country illegally and are under orders of removal, federal prosecutors said.
Why the Charge Was About Ammunition
The federal charge was not attempted murder. It was possession of ammunition by a person in the country illegally. Federal law bars anyone who is in the United States unlawfully from having a gun or even a single bullet. Prosecutors only had to prove two things: that Mora Nunez had the ammunition he fired, and that he had no legal right to be here. That charge carries up to 15 years, and the judge gave him all of it.
U.S. District Judge Loretta A. Preska, a federal trial judge in Manhattan, handed down both sentences. Each man also received three years of supervised release, a period of court monitoring that follows a prison term. Both had pleaded guilty before her. Mora Nunez entered his plea on May 4, 2026.
What Happened in the Park
The victim works for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, known as CBP, the federal agency that guards the borders and staffs ports of entry. He was off duty and with his girlfriend in Fort Washington Park, on the Hudson River in upper Manhattan, late on a Saturday night in July 2025. Prosecutors said Mora Nunez and Aybar-Berroa had taken a woman’s cellphone and then came up to the officer.
Mora Nunez fired. A bullet struck the officer in the face and the right arm. The officer drew his own gun and shot back, hitting Mora Nunez twice. Mora Nunez got away on a motorbike driven by Aybar-Berroa. The officer survived.
The Second Man’s Sentence
Aybar-Berroa, also a citizen of the Dominican Republic, was first charged as an accessory after the fact, meaning a person who helps someone else get away with a crime. Prosecutors said he drove the motorbike, later tried to get rid of the bloody clothing he wore that night, and talked with a relative of Mora Nunez about disposing of it. He was sentenced on the same ammunition charge as Mora Nunez and received 151 months.
When the men were charged in 2025, officials said Aybar-Berroa came into the country illegally through Texas in 2022 and had been arrested several times in New York since then, on charges that included reckless endangerment and grand larceny.
What Prosecutors Said
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said the two men’s actions “shocked our city” and did lasting harm. He said the sentences show his office’s commitment to taking violent criminals off the streets.
Both men remain subject to orders of removal, which are rulings that a person must leave the country. Mora Nunez was also charged by state prosecutors in Manhattan with attempted murder, assault, robbery and weapons possession. The federal sentences come first: 15 years for the man who pulled the trigger, and more than 12 for the man who drove him away.
Sources:
nypost.com, cbsnews.com, foxnews.com, dhs.gov, justice.gov, abc3340.com, abc7chicago.com, patch.com, supreme.justia.com
