Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly trial witness admits to drug smuggling

The prosecution's witness in Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly's trial admitted to carrying drugs across the border before the fatal shooting of a Mexican national.

Danielle Wallace is a reporter for Fox News Digital covering politics, crime, police and more. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and on Twitter: @danimwallace. 

Ramirez initially told prosecutors that he had not trafficked drugs into the U.S. before. He later admitted at the same proceeding that he had once before carried an unspecified amount of marijuana across the border in 2014. Ramirez, who testified that he was born in Honduras but has lived in Mexico for decades, told jurors on Wednesday that he paid human smugglers $2,500 each time they helped him cross illegally into the U.S. 

"They asked you, ‘Have you transported drugs into the United States?’" Kelly's attorney asked Ramirez during cross-examination, challenging the man's testimony. "And you're telling us that you believe they meant on this particular occasion, only? Is that right?" Ramirez replied simply, "Yes." Defense had argued that the man had lied to detectives, but Ramirez claimed that he had meant that he had not been smuggling drugs the day of the shooting.