Knife-wielding illegal migrant who threatened to slit throat of US Attorney had previous busts for threatening someone, DWI
Saul Morales-Garcia — an illegal migrant from El Salvador who was previously deported and snuck back into the country illegally — had already racked up an unsettling rap sheet before he allegedly threatened John Sarcone, the President Trump-appointed US attorney for the Northern District of New York, outside the Hilton Hotel in Albany Tuesday night.
3 Mugshot of Saul Morales-Garcia.
Albany County Sheriff's Office
'The alien in question illegally entered our country twice, was deported, returned, and has since been committing crimes across the country,' Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Friday.
Morales-Garcia, 40, was previously collared in 2009 in Arlington, Virginia, and convicted of misdemeanor petit larceny and sentenced to 12 months in prison, according to DHS.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents then nabbed Morales-Garcia in 2010 and he was deported shortly thereafter.
But the criminal migrant snuck his way back in sometime between April 21, 2010 and Dec. 10, 2021, DHS said.
3 U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York John A. Sarcone III was appointed by the Trump administration.
Houston Chronicle via Getty Images
He then turned up in Georgia in 2021, when he was arrested and charged with a DWI.
A couple of years later, in 2023, Morales-Garcia was picked up by the US Parks Police and charged with disorderly conduct for physically threatening, being drunk in public and possession of an open container, according to DHS.
He was arrested again in 2024 by cops in Upper Merion, Pennsylvania, and charged with misdemeanor retail theft.
3 The illegal immigrant allegedly lunged at the US Attorney with a knife.
Albany County Sheriff's Office
His lawless streak continued, and he was collared this week after he allegedly chased Sarcone down the street outside his Albany hotel just before 10 p.m. on Tuesday, WNYT reported, citing Albany County prosecutors.
Morales-Garcia charged at the US attorney while clutching a blade and gesturing that he would slit his throat.
Sarcone was uninjured and Morales-Garcia was picked up by Albany County sheriff's deputies just moments after the frightening alleged attack, according to local cops.
Morales-Garcia was charged with attempted second-degree murder and is being held without bail, the Albany Times Union reported.
Meanwhile, Homeland Security Investigations is also seeking to charge Morales-Garcia with illegal re-entry into the US, which could accelerate his second deportation.
ICE has also lodged a detainer to take him into federal custody, DHS said.
Morales-Garcia 'should have never been in our country in the first place—and now, he will face attempted murder in the second-degree charges and removal,' McLaughlin said in the Friday statement.
'Make no mistake: Under President Trump and Secretary Noem, ICE is focused on removing the worst of the worst criminal illegal aliens from Americans' communities,' she added.
The alleged attempted slasher was also previously convicted of a felony in El Salvador, WNYT reported, citing investigators.
Attorney General Pam Bondi appointed Sarcone to the Northern District of New York in March.
The Pace University graduate is a native New Yorker with a 'humble, blue-collar background,' who was raised in Croton-on-Hudson, Sarcone said in a statement after his appointment.
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