A Cuban national who tried to slip through security at Harry Reid International Airport using a stranger's boarding pass, then assaulted four officers when he was caught, was sentenced Thursday to 33 months in federal prison. Chief U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon handed down the sentence for Jhon Raul Vizcaino Ramirez, along with three years of supervised release to follow, well below the 60-month term federal prosecutors had originally sought.
According to the US Attorney Nevada, the sentencing closes out a case that began at the Terminal 1 checkpoint on November 3, 2025, when Ramirez attempted to bypass screening while concealing his face with a hooded top and bandana, according to View from the Wing. He was carrying a fraudulent boarding pass belonging to a woman booked on a Southwest Airlines flight to Rochester, New York, and refused to provide identification when screeners challenged him, the outlet reports.
The confrontation turned violent fast. Once a TSA officer confiscated the fake document, Ramirez slapped the screener and then fought off arrest, kicking a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officer twice and kicking a second TSA screener who tried to intervene, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In total, four officers — a mix of federal screeners and local police — were assaulted during the melee.
A Guilty Plea Ends the Case Before Trial
Ramirez formally pleaded guilty on June 9, 2026, to five federal counts, including two counts of interference with security screening personnel, two counts of assault on or resisting officers, and one count of entry by false pretenses into a secure airport area, per the Justice Department's account. The plea avoided a federal jury trial that had originally been scheduled for early 2026, according to the Transportation Security Administration.
Under federal law, forcibly assaulting or interfering with airport screeners and law enforcement officers carrying out official duties carries statutory maximum penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $250,000 per count, according to Medvin Law. Prosecutors had leaned on that exposure in pushing for the steeper 60-month sentence, but the judge ultimately imposed 33 months instead.
Criminal History and an Immigration Detainer
Court records show Ramirez was on probation for a state assault-with-a-deadly-weapon conviction at the time of the airport incident, and he had multiple other prior violent criminal convictions on his record, per the Justice Department. That history factored heavily into prosecutors' push for a harsher sentence.
Ramirez originally entered the U.S. illegally near Yuma, Arizona, on October 27, 2022, but was released into the interior because of border detention facility constraints, the Justice Department's earlier release states. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has since placed an administrative detainer on him to secure his removal once he completes his federal prison term.
Local Police Provide Backup at the Checkpoint
The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department maintains an active airport detail at Harry Reid International Airport specifically to provide armed backup to TSA screeners during checkpoint breaches or violent disruptions, according to the Nevada Globe. That coordination is what brought local officers into direct physical contact with Ramirez once the checkpoint disturbance escalated.
Following the sentencing, TSA Administrator David P. Cummins issued a public statement emphasizing that physical assaults against checkpoint screeners are unacceptable and will continue to be met with full federal prosecution alongside local law enforcement partners, the Justice Department reports. Federal aviation safety reporting in 2026 points to a broader national trend of rising verbal and physical confrontations targeting airport security personnel at major U.S. airports, according to PYOK.
Hoodline previously reported on the case in December 2025, when federal prosecutors first indicted Ramirez following the airport incident. Thursday's sentencing brings that case to its conclusion, with Ramirez now facing federal prison time followed by ICE custody and deportation proceedings.
