Dallas Cowboys ‘fans’ caught at checkpoint after lacking game-day knowledge

A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent and K-9 security dog keep watch at a checkpoint station, Friday, Feb. 22, 2013, in Falfurrias. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

When a man wearing a Dallas Cowboys jersey Monday didn’t know how badly the team lost Sunday, a Border Patrol agent working at the Falfurrias checkpoint became suspicious.

Asbel Ortiz-Baquendo’s lack of knowledge about the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 19-3 victory over Dallas led to his arrest. 

Ortiz was in the country illegally.  And his driver, Patty Lee Alvarado, was also arrested for trying to smuggle him.

The incident happened at approximately 11:45 a.m. when Alvarado and Ortiz arrived at the checkpoint in a gray Nissan Altima.

Both were eating sandwiches when they arrived — a common smuggling technique — and in between bites, the agent noticed Ortiz briefly make eye contact with him before abruptly breaking it by looking away, according to the complaint.

“The agent observed Ortiz to be wearing a Dallas Cowboy(s) jersey and asked, ‘how did they do last night?’ The agent observed Ortiz turn his attention to Alvardo, as if waiting for an answer,” the complaint stated. “At that time, Alvarado responded, ‘they didn’t do too good.’”

The agent found this odd and referred the pair to a secondary inspection, where agents determined Ortiz was from Honduras and was in the country illegally.

Alvarado made a first appearance Wednesday in Corpus Christi federal court in front of U.S. Magistrate Judge Julie K. Hampton.