Leader of Border Militia That Rounded Up Migrants at Gunpoint Pleads Guilty to Weapons Charge

Image via Dona Ana County Detention Center

The leader of a U.S.-Mexico border militia who boasted of rounding up migrants at gunpoint has pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges.

Larry Hopkins, who leads the United Constitutional Patriots, faces up to 10 years in prison on the charge he pleaded to in an agreement Thursday, according to The Washington Post. A lawyer for Hopkins told The Post that he entered into the plea agreement because of health concerns – noting he had been beaten up in jail following his arrest and fell on his head during a court appearance.

Hopkins had also gone by other names and has three felony convictions to his name, according to the Law & Crime Network. Two convictions happened in 1996 and 2006 – one of the convictions was for impersonating a peace officer – and the most recent conviction was in 2017.

According to a previous report, Hopkins allegedly told the FBI his group was training to assassinate former President Barack Obama, billionaire philanthropist George Soros and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesperson previously told The Post that the agency discourages groups like Hopkins’ militia from “taking enforcement matters into their own hands.”

Hopkins’ attorney said he intends to seek a sentence of time served and probation for his client.