SAN DIEGO — With his arrest quickly becoming a binational political issue, a Marine Corps sergeant has been freed from a Mexican jail two weeks after being seized for inadvertently entering Mexico while on duty with guns in his car.
Sgt. Brian Johnston, 23, a driver in a transportation unit at Camp Pendleton, was released near midnight Friday after a judge in Tijuana dropped a weapons charge against him.
"I missed my Marine Corps birthday," joked Johnston, a reference to last week's 224th anniversary of the founding of the Marine Corps.
Johnston was greeted by Brig. Gen. Bradley Lott and two San Diego-area congressmen, Duncan Hunter and Brian Bilbray, both Republicans.
Hunter and Bilbray were among a number of elected officials who had lobbied the Mexican government to release Johnston. President Clinton had promised Friday to intervene with Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo if Johnston was not released.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) wrote Jesus Reyes Heroles, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, that "this incident has created heightened tensions in the San Diego-Tijuana region and threatens to jeopardize binational relations."
Late Friday, a Mexican judge, acting on a request by Mexican federal prosecutors, dropped a charge of weapons possession, which could have carried a prison term of up to 12 years. A smuggling charge had been dropped earlier.
Saturday afternoon, Johnston had a joyful reunion with his wife, Crystal, and their two sons, 3 months and 3 years, at the San Diego airport. Johnston's family had flown to San Diego from their home near the Marine base at Camp Lejeune, N.C.
"It feels good to be home, to be back in the USA, listening to people speaking English," Johnston said.
Crystal Johnston, her eyes filled with tears, said, "I'm ecstatic. I want us to be a family again."
Johnston said he was not mistreated during his incarceration. Marine Corps and Shore Patrol personnel visited him daily, bringing him food and news of efforts made on his behalf.
Bilbray and Hunter said Saturday that they will seek to establish a formal agreement between the two governments on handling incidents in which military or law enforcement personnel from one country stray into the other while carrying weapons.
"This young man was not smuggling," Bilbray said. "He was serving his country."
