In brief: Man pleads guilty in Border Patrol death

Phoenix – A Mexican man pleaded guilty Tuesday in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent whose death revealed the botched “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling operation, marking the biggest conviction to date in a case that embarrassed the federal government and prompted a series of congressional investigations.

In his guilty plea, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes admitted that he was part of a rip-off crew that sneaked into the United States from Mexico about a week before the death of Agent Brian Terry. They stashed guns and food supplies on the U.S. side of the border and killed Terry as they searched for marijuana smugglers to rob.

Authorities haven’t said which member of the rip-off crew was believed to have fired the fatal shot at Terry on Dec. 14, 2010.

Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty against Osorio-Arellanes, who could face life in prison for the first-degree murder conviction.

Keystone pipeline report outlines impact

Lincoln, Neb. – Nebraska environmental regulators have released a preliminary 600-page report on the oil pipeline a Canadian company wants to build across the state.

The report released Tuesday doesn’t include a recommendation about whether TransCanada should be allowed to build the Keystone XL pipeline to ship crude oil to Gulf Coast refineries. But the state report said TransCanada’s new route avoids the environmental sensitive Sandhills region and addresses a number of concerns Nebraskans raised.

Pipeline opponent Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska said she’s disappointed the state won’t require disclosure of exactly what chemicals will be carried in the pipeline. A public hearing will be held Dec. 4.

South Dakota executes girl’s killer

Sioux Falls, S.D. – A South Dakota inmate was executed Tuesday night for the 1990 rape and murder of a 9-year-old girl who disappeared after leaving her home to buy sugar at a nearby store.

Donald Moeller, 60, received a lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Sioux Falls, marking South Dakota’s second execution this month in an unusual surge for a state that has carried out just two other death sentences since 1913.

Though he fought his conviction and sentence for years, Moeller in July said he was ready to accept death as the consequence of his actions. He admitted for the first time in court that he killed the girl.

“I killed. I deserve to be killed,” he said.