Geoffrey
Donald Rickner, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of assault on a federal
employee by use of a dangerous and deadly weapon and inflicting bodily injury,
a felony offense that carries a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in
federal prison.
Rickner
admitted driving his Mercedes-Benz sedan into CBP Security Specialist Jose
Gutierrez on March 3, 2016 at the Chet Holifield Federal Building, which is
commonly known as the Ziggurat Building. Mr. Gutierrez, who was in a
well-marked crosswalk and wearing his federal employee identification card,
suffered permanent and life-threatening injuries – including head trauma, broken
ribs, internal bleeding and badly damaged legs – that put him in the hospital
for nearly three weeks and continue to cause him pain and physical impairment.
When Rickner
struck Mr. Gutierrez, the vehicle was travelling at such a high rate of speed
that it continued traveling into the Ziggurat, going through a metal garage
door, and stopping only when it struck a concrete wall inside the building.
Rickner had
been behaving suspiciously in the hours leading up to the assault on Mr.
Gutierrez, prompting building security personnel at one point to detain him,
during which he made comments about owing money to the Internal Revenue
Service, according to documents previously filed in this case.
Rickner
pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James V. Selna, who scheduled a
sentencing hearing on October 7.
The
investigation in this case is being conducted by the FBI and the U.S. Treasury
Inspector General for Tax Administration.
This matter
is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert J. Keenan of the
Santa Ana Branch Office.
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