Story of Marine held in Mexico got stranger

Marine admits being in Mexico before arrest
Sergeant has been under arrest since late March
By Ray Sanchez CNN
Jun 06, 2014

(CNN)
A U.S. Marine sergeant jailed in Mexico since late March for crossing the border with several guns in his car said Friday that he had walked across the border on foot and stayed at a Tijuana hotel earlier on the day of his arrest.

Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi, who also said he attempted suicide while being abused by his Mexican jailers, has maintained that he took a wrong turn on the California side of the border, his vehicle carrying firearms he said he legally owns but are unlawful to bring into Mexico.

"I stayed in a hotel earlier in the day," Tahmooressi said Friday in an interview with CNN's "New Day."

"I parked my truck at a parking lot on the American side ... and I walk into Mexico with a backpack with extra clothes and hygiene supplies, passport, wallet. And I decide to go hang out in Mexico for some good Mexican food, inexpensive place to stay and to hang out."

Asked about Mexican media reports that he had crossed the border into Mexico several times before his March 31 arrest, Tahmooressi told CNN in a telephone interview from La Mesa penitentiary in Tijuana that he had previously traveled there four times "just to hang out."

He denied crossing the border with the intent of trafficking arms. He had an AR-15 rifle, a .45-caliber pistol and a 12-gauge pump shotgun in his truck.
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