4 Plead Guilty to Robbing Migrants at Border

Four former members of the San Diego Job Corps program pleaded guilty Friday to robbing migrant workers at the border.

The guilty pleas to three counts of robbery came just as their case was to have been assigned to a judge for trial.

One of the defendants, Jason MacAllister, 18, was the subject of a controversial story on “The Reporters” television show last February. The segment chronicled his role as head of a teen-age paramilitary group that patrolled near the border in military garb.

Although MacAllister was 17 at the time of the Aug. 30 holdups, he was ordered to be tried as an adult. The other defendants are Ruben Saucedo, 20; Donald Young, 22, and William Barnes, 24.

MacAllister and Young could be sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison, and Barnes and Saucedo could receive a maximum of seven years.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Victor Nunez said MacAllister and Young also pleaded guilty to committing the robberies while armed, which can add a year to the sentence.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Fred Link scheduled sentencing for Saucedo for March 29, and Feb. 26 for the other three defendants.

“It’s a good plea, considering the circumstances of this case,” said the prosecutor, who added that he will be seeking the maximum sentence allowed.

The young men could also be fined $30,000 each.

The judge dismissed eight counts of robbery or attempted robbery in a plea bargain after the guilty pleas to three other counts.

All of the robberies--involving five men, three women and three children ranging in age from 5 to 11--occurred west of Hollister Street, about 1 mile from the border.

The defendants were living in the San Diego Job Corps program’s dormitories in Imperial Beach at the time.