Illegal migrant who chased US attorney with knife flashes carefree smile as he pleads guilty, faces deportation

In Albany, a man from El Salvador who is living in the U.S. illegally smiled calmly in court as he admitted to lesser charges for a recent crime. His name is Saul Morales-Garcia, and he’s 40 years old. He had originally been accused of trying to stab a federal prosecutor with a knife, but those serious charges were dropped. Instead, he pleaded guilty to two lesser crimes: threatening someone (called “menacing”) and having a weapon illegally. Because of this, he was sentenced to 90 days in jail.

This incident happened on June 17 near the Albany Hilton Hotel, where Morales-Garcia allegedly threatened U.S. Attorney John Sarcone, a top federal prosecutor in that area. After the court hearing, Morales-Garcia was taken to the Albany County jail. Even though immigration agents weren’t at the court, officials believe that after serving his jail sentence, he will likely be deported.

Morales-Garcia has already been deported before but came back into the U.S. without permission. Authorities say he has outstanding arrest warrants in at least three other states, as well as at the federal level, so he may face even more charges once his time in Albany is done.

Originally, prosecutors charged him with attempted murder, which is a much more serious crime and would have kept him in jail without the possibility of bail. But that charge was dropped. His lawyer, Vincenzo Sofia, said that the attempted murder accusation was exaggerated. He seemed pleased with the outcome and said it was a fair result for his client.

Albany County District Attorney Lee Kindlon said they decided it was best to move forward quickly with a plea deal to avoid a long legal process. The idea was to give Morales-Garcia some jail time, and then allow other law enforcement agencies to take over once he’s finished serving his sentence, since he still has other legal problems in different places.