Verdict: Pilot Not Guilty in Drowning of Man Who Was Swimming Toward Texas

Unidentified migrants, who did not wish to give their names, from Mexico, cross the waters of the Rio Grande, with the help of smugglers, in an attempt to reach the U.S. border. On Friday, a jury found a Homeland Security pilot not guilty of lying about his role in the 2005 drowning of a Mexican man who was swimming across the Rio Grande towards Texas. (AP)

A Department of Homeland Security pilot was declared not guilty on Friday of a charge connected to the drowning of a Mexican man who was swimming across the Rio Grande in an apparent effort to reach Texas.

The jury, however, couldn't reach a verdict on three other similar counts.

Jurors acquitted James Peters on one count of making false statements to federal investigators looking into the 2005 drowning death of Carlos Delgadillo Martinez. A judge declared a mistrial on the three other counts of the same charge.

Prosecutors accused Peters, 41, of lying about flying his helicopter low in an attempt to force Delgadillo and another person back to Mexico. Officials say the force of the turbulence from the helicopter's rotor blades made Delgadillo lose his grip on an inner tube.

But defense attorneys tried to create doubt in the jurors' minds by suggesting that surveillance video prosecutors said showed Peters flying over Delgadillo and the other person was not clear, that it didn't indicate how far above the men the aircraft actually was and that it presented no proof anyone drowned.

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The jury indicated several times during its deliberations, which began Wednesday, that it couldn't reach a unanimous verdict on all four counts.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake resisted prosecutors' efforts to have jurors continue working, saying they had deliberated extensively.

Peters, who had faced up to five years in prison if convicted, cried after the judge read the verdict.

After the jury left the courtroom, he hugged his wife and three friends, including two other Homeland Security pilots.

"He's relieved," said Thomas Berg, one of Peters' attorneys. "He's hoping the government will dismiss the other counts and this nightmare can be over."

Federal prosecutors said they respected the jury's verdict and told Lake they would let him know by late next week if they planned to retry Peters on the three undecided counts or drop those charges.

Prosecutors had argued that surveillance video clearly showed Peters flew his helicopter over the immigrants, getting as close as 100 feet (30 meters) to an international bridge in Laredo, in an attempt to drive them back to Mexico as they tried crossing into the United States on Dec. 14, 2005. Delgadillo's body was found later that day.

Berg said Peters should never have been indicted because there was no proof he flew too close to the bridge or that he was lying when he told investigators he didn't recall flying over any individuals near the bridge that day.

Peters, who was suspended without pay after being indicted in January, is currently stationed in Maine. He has worked for Homeland Security since 1997, becoming a helicopter pilot in 2003.

This is based on a story by The Associated Press.