The Cuban Jhon Raúl Vizcaíno Ramírez was sentenced this Thursday to more than two years (33 months) in federal prison for assaulting four agents while attempting to access a restricted area of Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas, using a boarding pass belonging to another person.
Federal Judge Andrew P. Gordon also imposed three years of supervised release, according to the United States Department of Justice reported. The prosecution had requested a sentence of 60 months.
The events took place on November 3, 2025, when Vizcaíno Ramírez appeared at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint with a boarding pass in someone else's name for a flight to Rochester, New York.
When an agent asked for his identification, he showed a passport inside a plastic bag but refused to hand it over for verification. After the employee retained the boarding pass, the Cuban hit him in the head and ripped off his glasses.
The confrontation continued when other agents tried to detain him. According to federal authorities, Vizcaíno Ramírez assaulted two TSA employees and two police officers from the Metropolitan Police Department of Las Vegas who responded to the scene.
During the struggle, he managed to take a pen from one of the officers and tried to use it as a weapon. One of the agents sustained injuries that required surgery.
Vizcaíno Ramírez pleaded guilty in June to five federal charges: two for interfering with personnel responsible for security checks, two for assaulting and resisting officers, and one for unlawfully entering a restricted area of an airport.
At the time of the incident, the Cuban was out on probation for a previous conviction for assault with a deadly weapon and had other records for violent offenses.
Furthermore, he had entered the United States irregularly from Mexico on October 27, 2022. The Border Patrol intercepted him near Yuma, Arizona, but he was released due to a lack of capacity in detention centers and remained in the country without regular immigration status, according to authorities.
After his arrest for the airport incident, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a detainer against him. Once he has completed his criminal sentence, he could be held in ICE custody and face immigration proceedings.
"The violent actions of this accused directly threatened the safety of travelers and the dedicated personnel who tirelessly work to ensure the security of our nation's airspace," stated Sigal Chattah, first assistant federal prosecutor for the District of Nevada.
The official warned that assaults against TSA workers and police officers "will be punished to the fullest extent of federal law."
The TSA administrator, David P. Cummins, also stated that "attacks against them are unacceptable" and assured that the agency will continue working with authorities to hold those who assault its employees accountable.
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