The August 1, 2023 encounter on U.S. Highway 57 began like thousands of routine checkpoint stops, until a Border Patrol canine signaled trouble in the trunk of 26-year-old Kevin Dominguez’s sedan. When agents opened it and found an undocumented person hidden inside, Dominguez made a split-second decision that reshaped his life: he threw the car in reverse, struck a federal agent, and sped away from the checkpoint.

He didn’t get far. Arrested soon after, Dominguez faced federal charges for assaulting a federal officer and transporting an individual unlawfully. In court, prosecutors argued that he had gambled with two lives—the agent’s and the hidden passenger’s—to avoid accountability. The injured officer recovered, but the judge made clear the system would not shrug this off.

Dominguez received 18 months in federal prison, followed by supervised release, a sentence meant to echo beyond one man and one violent moment on a lonely border road.