Off-duty Border Patrol agent sentenced to probation for purse theft

Douglas Dispatch

BISBEE — An off duty Border Patrol agent who stole a woman’s purse in Douglas in August was sentenced to serve three years of probation Friday in Cochise County Superior Court.

Teofilo Rodarte, 32, had been temporarily assigned by Border Patrol to the Douglas area from El Paso, Texas, was charged with fraudulent schemes and artifices, three counts of computer tampering, third-degree burglary, two counts of identity theft, three counts of forgery and three counts of theft.

According to court records the defendant entered into a plea agreement for this case in September.

He pleaded guilty to third-degree burglary and identity theft.

On Friday Rodarte was sentenced in Division 3 court.

According to the Sierra Vista Herald, Judge Wallace Hoggatt imposed a term of three years of probation. He also ordered Rodarte to pay $911 in restitution and pay a $1,000 fine, plus a $840 surcharge, pursuant to the plea deal.

Defense attorney Sean Chapman told the court that as a result of this case Rodarte lost his job with Border Patrol, lost his reputation and now faces a huge financial burden.

On Aug. 4, the defendant took the purse from the victim’s blue Nissan Sentra at the Chevron gas station, located in the 100 block of 16th Street.

The victim told police her purse was valued at about $300 and that it contained her cell phone, identification, multiple credit cards, and cash, the Dispatch reported.

The defendant allegedly used the credit cards at Wal-Mart.