J
Jim
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Men held in death are illegal immigrants
One of them was arrested 4 times for drunken driving
The Associated Press
August 11, 2007
Two cousins accused of killing a teenager during her visit to Oregon
acknowledged entering the country illegally from Mexico, a federal
Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said.
One of the men, Alejandro Rivera Gamboa, 24, went unnoticed by immigration
officials even though he was arrested four times on drunken driving charges
since 2000, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
He and Gilberto Arellano Gamboa, 23, were arrested this week in the death of
Dani Countryman, 15, of Kaufman, Texas, whose body was found late last month
in an apartment southeast of Portland.
Oregon law prohibits local police from actively searching out illegal
immigrants, but the rules change when foreigners land in jail. If local
authorities find reason to think the person is deportable, they may notify
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At the same time, immigration officials search local jails and flag inmates
who may be in the country illegally.
"We can't cover every jail in the United States," said Lorie Dankers, an
immigration spokeswoman, noting that her agency also relies on local law
enforcement officials to notify the agency when they get inmates with
questionable residency status.
In Rivera Gamboa's case, immigration officials have no record of contact
after arrests, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, in 2000,
2003 and twice in 2006.
After their arrests in the murder case, the cousins told a federal
immigration officer they have been in the United States illegally for about
six months, Dankers said. According to state records, Rivera Gamboa obtained
an Oregon identification card in April 2006.
In Clackamas County, where hundreds of jail inmates are released early each
month because of overcrowding, illegal immigrants could be booked and
released before immigration authorities ever get a chance to speak with
them. It is unclear how much time Rivera Gamboa spent in the Clackamas
County Jail, but a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving likely wouldn't
have kept him there long.
Lt. Mike Alexander, Clackamas County jail operations manager, said local law
enforcement officials also are limited in how much they can pursue federal
immigration questions.
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070811/STATE/708110328/1042
L.A. grandmother sold heroin with grandkids: police
By Dan WhitcombTue Jul 31, 5:05 PM ET
A 39-year-old grandmother accused of selling heroin on the streets of a Los
Angeles suburb with her 11-year-old granddaughter as a lookout has been
arrested on drug and child endangerment charges, police said on Tuesday.
Undercover officers watched for two weeks as Martha Gutierrez Novas sold
heroin at a bus stop in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, clutching a brown
and white Chihuahua and often with her granddaughter at her side, a police
spokesman said.
"The granddaughter acted as a lookout, standing at the corner of the
building looking, I assume, for police officers," said Sgt. Paul LeBaron, a
Long Beach spokesman. "It's horrible. Absolutely horrible. I've never seen
anything this blatant. She just didn't even care."
Novas was found with a bag of heroin and cocaine when she was taken into
custody on Monday, LeBaron said, and a search of her home turned up two
ounces of heroin and a large amount of cash.
He said Novas, who faces charges of drug sales and possession as well as
child endangerment and was being held on $100,000 bail, refused to tell
police who was supplying her with the drugs.
LeBaron said that Novas' immigration status was under investigation and that
Child and Family Services officials were also probing the matter.
He said Novas also sometimes sold drugs with her 4-year-old granddaughter
present. Neither child was charged.
"This lady was pretty much going to the same spot all day long during the
daylight hours selling to a large clientele," LeBaron said. "Any time during
the day you could go out there and find her."
It was not clear how much jail time Novas could face, if convicted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070731/us_nm/grandmother_drugs_dc
Brewster man in country illegally charged with sexually abusing 2 girls
By TERENCE CORCORAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 17, 2007)
BREWSTER - A 32-year-old Brewster man who police say is in the country
illegally from Guatemala faces felony charges after sexually abusing two
girls, ages 10 and 11, police said today.
Sergio Antonio Martinez-Garza is being held today at the Putnam County jail
in lieu of $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond, according to the Putnam
County Sheriff's Office.
However, even if he does post bond, he can't be released because federal
immigration officials put a detainer warrant on him, ordering the jail to
hold him pending possible deportation proceedings, police said.
Martinez-Garza, of 550 N. Main St., touched the girls' private parts at a
residence in Brewster, police said.
Sheriff's investigators arrested him Sunday, charging him with two counts of
second-degree engaging in the course of sexual conduct against a child,
police said. The sheriff's department announced the arrest today.
Martinez-Garza was arraigned Sunday before Village Justice Richard O'Rourke
and is due back in court on Sept. 10.
That is the same date that two other village men in the country illegally
are due to appear in Village Court to answer statutory rape charges. Police
allege that Pedro Sagastume, 21, and Jeremias Perez, 22, had sex with two
girls, 13 and 15, in the men's apartment at 167 Main St. The two men have
been held on $50,000 bail since their July 15 arrests.
Police said the girls allegedly victimized by Martinez-Garza were not
physically injured and were referred to Child Protective Services.
Martinez-Garza and the girls knew each other and, police said, the crimes
were not random acts.
After the arrest, sheriff's investigators identified Martinez-Garza as
Guatemalan allegedly in the country illegally and notified federal
immigration officials and the Guatemalan consulate that he is being held at
the Putnam jail, police said.
http://www.nynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070817/NEWS04/708170438
years in prison for molesting 2 boys
Tribune staff report
August 14, 2007
COOK COUNTY - An undocumented immigrant who pleaded guilty Monday to
molesting the two teenage sons of a church couple who befriended him drew a
sharp rebuke from the judge who sentenced him to 6 years in prison.
Alejandro Bautista, 33, of the 1400 block of Devonshire Lane, Hoffman
Estates, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal
sexual abuse before Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr.
An angry Fecarotta asked Bautista if he was a legal immigrant. Through an
interpreter, Bautista said he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
"You cross our border to molest our children?" Fecarotta asked in the
Rolling Meadows courthouse. "When you get out of prison, go back to your
country. Stay out of ours."
Bautista was a maintenance worker at Bethel Baptist Church, 600 Lake St.,
Bartlett, and had been living for several years in Hoffman Estates,
authorities said. He was befriended by a church family and became close to
the two boys, ages 15 and 13, who went to Bautista's residence to watch
movies, authorities said.
The 13-year-old told authorities Bautista touched him inappropriately in
January while they were watching a movie and the 15-year-old said Bautista
touched him last fall.
Bautista's female roommates notified police, authorities said. Bautista has
been in custody since his arrest in January. He faces deportation upon his
release from prison. Bautista also will have to register as a sex offender.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-molest_14aug14,1,5445475.story
TEEN-ASSAULT ARREST AT WATER COUNTRY
Illegal alien allegedly molested girl
By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com
August 07, 2007 6:00 AM
PORTSMOUTH - An illegal alien wanted by the Department of Homeland Security
is being held on $75,000 cash-only bail for charges alleging he restrained
and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in a Water Country wave pool
Sunday.
Marvin Hernandez, 27, of 11 Ingall St., Lynn, Mass., is alleged to have
twice grabbed an inner tube in which the minor girl was floating, pulled her
toward him and put his hand inside her bikini bottom. As a result, he is
charged with a felony count of criminal restraint, felony false imprisonment
and two Class A misdemeanor counts of simple assault.
Prosecutor Corey MacDonald said the simple-assault charges are expected to
be upgraded to reflect the sexual assault allegations.
According to an affidavit by Officer Laura Purslow, she was dispatched to
the Lafayette Road water theme park on Aug. 5 at 2:29 p.m. Purslow's report
says the girl told police Hernandez put his hand down her bikini bottom
twice and the second time she "got away" and told a lifeguard. The girl
later identified Hernandez to authorities and his only form of personal
identification was a Mexican voter's card, according to police.
Hernandez was arraigned in Portsmouth District Court through a Spanish
interpreter Monday, when not-guilty pleas were entered on his behalf and he
requested the assistance of a public defender. He told the court he works as
a roofer, shares a Lynn, Mass. apartment with four friends and offered the
explanation that he was holding an inner tube with one hand and keeping
afloat with the other.
MacDonald told the court police have learned Hernandez is in the country
illegally and is wanted by the Federal Immigration Department for
deportation.
"Mr. Hernandez is both a danger to the community and a flight risk," the
prosecutor told Judge Sawako Gardner.
At the conclusion of the arraignment, Judge Gardner set bail at $75,000 cash
and $20,000 personal recognizance. If he is able to post bail, Hernandez is
court-ordered to stay away from Water Country and return to the court for an
Aug. 14 probable cause hearing.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS/708070395
Judge: 'You shattered his life'
Alejandro Xuya-Sian did more than shred the skin on his victim's body -- he
shredded his victim's dignity, making him feel "too embarrassed" by his
appearance to face the drunken driver who nearly dragged him to his death, a
judge said as he sentenced Xuya-Sian to 3 1/3 to 10 years in prison.
"You didn't just injure him physically. You shattered his life," Suffolk
County Judge James Hudson told Xuya-Sian before he imposed his sentence.
Hudson said Xuya-Sian treated his victim with less regard than he should "an
injured animal."
Xuya-Sian, 27, pleaded guilty last month to vehicular assault, driving while
intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and other charges.
Suffolk prosecutors said Xuya-Sian struck Anselmo Chin-Sabam, 21, with his
2002 GMC Envoy in the parking lot of a Riverhead bar in April. Chin-Sabam
became lodged in the front left wheel of the SUV, and had his skin shredded
as Xuya-Sian drove three-quarters of a mile before realizing he was there.
Assistant District Attorney Thalia Stavrides said Xuya-Sian "stopped the
car, got out and undoubtedly dislodged him from the car," then kept driving,
crashing into a tree about two miles away. Stavrides said Xuya-Sian was
arrested with blood-alcohol level of .08 percent, right at the legal limit.
Chin-Sabam suffered first-degree burns on more than 40 percent of his body,
multiple fractures and had some parts of his body torn to the muscle,
Stavrides said. He is still recovering and was in no condition to be in
court Thursday, she said.
Given the opportunity to make a statement before receiving his sentence,
Xuya-Sian began speaking when his Legal Aid attorney, Bryan Browns,
interrupted him. Browns took him to the side, and then said his client would
remain silent.
Browns said Xuya-Sian, an illegal immigrant, had two children and a wife in
his native Guatemala and had been working a $450-a week job to help support
them.
"He regrets and he takes full responsibility for what happened," Browns said
in court. "I think his time in prison is going to allow him to reflect and
get on with his life."
Hudson said he would recommend that Xuya-Sian be deported after completing
his sentence -- a sentence that Hudson said was "too lenient" because of
limitations of law.
"[The sentence] is not enough to give consolation to your victim that this
is how such a violation of his body was punished," Hudson said.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lidrag0817,0,6939721.story
One of them was arrested 4 times for drunken driving
The Associated Press
August 11, 2007
Two cousins accused of killing a teenager during her visit to Oregon
acknowledged entering the country illegally from Mexico, a federal
Immigration and Customs Enforcement official said.
One of the men, Alejandro Rivera Gamboa, 24, went unnoticed by immigration
officials even though he was arrested four times on drunken driving charges
since 2000, The Oregonian newspaper reported.
He and Gilberto Arellano Gamboa, 23, were arrested this week in the death of
Dani Countryman, 15, of Kaufman, Texas, whose body was found late last month
in an apartment southeast of Portland.
Oregon law prohibits local police from actively searching out illegal
immigrants, but the rules change when foreigners land in jail. If local
authorities find reason to think the person is deportable, they may notify
Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
At the same time, immigration officials search local jails and flag inmates
who may be in the country illegally.
"We can't cover every jail in the United States," said Lorie Dankers, an
immigration spokeswoman, noting that her agency also relies on local law
enforcement officials to notify the agency when they get inmates with
questionable residency status.
In Rivera Gamboa's case, immigration officials have no record of contact
after arrests, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office, in 2000,
2003 and twice in 2006.
After their arrests in the murder case, the cousins told a federal
immigration officer they have been in the United States illegally for about
six months, Dankers said. According to state records, Rivera Gamboa obtained
an Oregon identification card in April 2006.
In Clackamas County, where hundreds of jail inmates are released early each
month because of overcrowding, illegal immigrants could be booked and
released before immigration authorities ever get a chance to speak with
them. It is unclear how much time Rivera Gamboa spent in the Clackamas
County Jail, but a misdemeanor charge of drunken driving likely wouldn't
have kept him there long.
Lt. Mike Alexander, Clackamas County jail operations manager, said local law
enforcement officials also are limited in how much they can pursue federal
immigration questions.
http://159.54.226.83/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070811/STATE/708110328/1042
L.A. grandmother sold heroin with grandkids: police
By Dan WhitcombTue Jul 31, 5:05 PM ET
A 39-year-old grandmother accused of selling heroin on the streets of a Los
Angeles suburb with her 11-year-old granddaughter as a lookout has been
arrested on drug and child endangerment charges, police said on Tuesday.
Undercover officers watched for two weeks as Martha Gutierrez Novas sold
heroin at a bus stop in Long Beach, south of Los Angeles, clutching a brown
and white Chihuahua and often with her granddaughter at her side, a police
spokesman said.
"The granddaughter acted as a lookout, standing at the corner of the
building looking, I assume, for police officers," said Sgt. Paul LeBaron, a
Long Beach spokesman. "It's horrible. Absolutely horrible. I've never seen
anything this blatant. She just didn't even care."
Novas was found with a bag of heroin and cocaine when she was taken into
custody on Monday, LeBaron said, and a search of her home turned up two
ounces of heroin and a large amount of cash.
He said Novas, who faces charges of drug sales and possession as well as
child endangerment and was being held on $100,000 bail, refused to tell
police who was supplying her with the drugs.
LeBaron said that Novas' immigration status was under investigation and that
Child and Family Services officials were also probing the matter.
He said Novas also sometimes sold drugs with her 4-year-old granddaughter
present. Neither child was charged.
"This lady was pretty much going to the same spot all day long during the
daylight hours selling to a large clientele," LeBaron said. "Any time during
the day you could go out there and find her."
It was not clear how much jail time Novas could face, if convicted.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070731/us_nm/grandmother_drugs_dc
Brewster man in country illegally charged with sexually abusing 2 girls
By TERENCE CORCORAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 17, 2007)
BREWSTER - A 32-year-old Brewster man who police say is in the country
illegally from Guatemala faces felony charges after sexually abusing two
girls, ages 10 and 11, police said today.
Sergio Antonio Martinez-Garza is being held today at the Putnam County jail
in lieu of $100,000 cash bail or $200,000 bond, according to the Putnam
County Sheriff's Office.
However, even if he does post bond, he can't be released because federal
immigration officials put a detainer warrant on him, ordering the jail to
hold him pending possible deportation proceedings, police said.
Martinez-Garza, of 550 N. Main St., touched the girls' private parts at a
residence in Brewster, police said.
Sheriff's investigators arrested him Sunday, charging him with two counts of
second-degree engaging in the course of sexual conduct against a child,
police said. The sheriff's department announced the arrest today.
Martinez-Garza was arraigned Sunday before Village Justice Richard O'Rourke
and is due back in court on Sept. 10.
That is the same date that two other village men in the country illegally
are due to appear in Village Court to answer statutory rape charges. Police
allege that Pedro Sagastume, 21, and Jeremias Perez, 22, had sex with two
girls, 13 and 15, in the men's apartment at 167 Main St. The two men have
been held on $50,000 bail since their July 15 arrests.
Police said the girls allegedly victimized by Martinez-Garza were not
physically injured and were referred to Child Protective Services.
Martinez-Garza and the girls knew each other and, police said, the crimes
were not random acts.
After the arrest, sheriff's investigators identified Martinez-Garza as
Guatemalan allegedly in the country illegally and notified federal
immigration officials and the Guatemalan consulate that he is being held at
the Putnam jail, police said.
http://www.nynews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070817/NEWS04/708170438
years in prison for molesting 2 boys
Tribune staff report
August 14, 2007
COOK COUNTY - An undocumented immigrant who pleaded guilty Monday to
molesting the two teenage sons of a church couple who befriended him drew a
sharp rebuke from the judge who sentenced him to 6 years in prison.
Alejandro Bautista, 33, of the 1400 block of Devonshire Lane, Hoffman
Estates, pleaded guilty to criminal sexual assault and aggravated criminal
sexual abuse before Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas Fecarotta Jr.
An angry Fecarotta asked Bautista if he was a legal immigrant. Through an
interpreter, Bautista said he crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally.
"You cross our border to molest our children?" Fecarotta asked in the
Rolling Meadows courthouse. "When you get out of prison, go back to your
country. Stay out of ours."
Bautista was a maintenance worker at Bethel Baptist Church, 600 Lake St.,
Bartlett, and had been living for several years in Hoffman Estates,
authorities said. He was befriended by a church family and became close to
the two boys, ages 15 and 13, who went to Bautista's residence to watch
movies, authorities said.
The 13-year-old told authorities Bautista touched him inappropriately in
January while they were watching a movie and the 15-year-old said Bautista
touched him last fall.
Bautista's female roommates notified police, authorities said. Bautista has
been in custody since his arrest in January. He faces deportation upon his
release from prison. Bautista also will have to register as a sex offender.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/north/chi-molest_14aug14,1,5445475.story
TEEN-ASSAULT ARREST AT WATER COUNTRY
Illegal alien allegedly molested girl
By Elizabeth Dinan
edinan@seacoastonline.com
August 07, 2007 6:00 AM
PORTSMOUTH - An illegal alien wanted by the Department of Homeland Security
is being held on $75,000 cash-only bail for charges alleging he restrained
and sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl in a Water Country wave pool
Sunday.
Marvin Hernandez, 27, of 11 Ingall St., Lynn, Mass., is alleged to have
twice grabbed an inner tube in which the minor girl was floating, pulled her
toward him and put his hand inside her bikini bottom. As a result, he is
charged with a felony count of criminal restraint, felony false imprisonment
and two Class A misdemeanor counts of simple assault.
Prosecutor Corey MacDonald said the simple-assault charges are expected to
be upgraded to reflect the sexual assault allegations.
According to an affidavit by Officer Laura Purslow, she was dispatched to
the Lafayette Road water theme park on Aug. 5 at 2:29 p.m. Purslow's report
says the girl told police Hernandez put his hand down her bikini bottom
twice and the second time she "got away" and told a lifeguard. The girl
later identified Hernandez to authorities and his only form of personal
identification was a Mexican voter's card, according to police.
Hernandez was arraigned in Portsmouth District Court through a Spanish
interpreter Monday, when not-guilty pleas were entered on his behalf and he
requested the assistance of a public defender. He told the court he works as
a roofer, shares a Lynn, Mass. apartment with four friends and offered the
explanation that he was holding an inner tube with one hand and keeping
afloat with the other.
MacDonald told the court police have learned Hernandez is in the country
illegally and is wanted by the Federal Immigration Department for
deportation.
"Mr. Hernandez is both a danger to the community and a flight risk," the
prosecutor told Judge Sawako Gardner.
At the conclusion of the arraignment, Judge Gardner set bail at $75,000 cash
and $20,000 personal recognizance. If he is able to post bail, Hernandez is
court-ordered to stay away from Water Country and return to the court for an
Aug. 14 probable cause hearing.
http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/NEWS/708070395
Judge: 'You shattered his life'
Alejandro Xuya-Sian did more than shred the skin on his victim's body -- he
shredded his victim's dignity, making him feel "too embarrassed" by his
appearance to face the drunken driver who nearly dragged him to his death, a
judge said as he sentenced Xuya-Sian to 3 1/3 to 10 years in prison.
"You didn't just injure him physically. You shattered his life," Suffolk
County Judge James Hudson told Xuya-Sian before he imposed his sentence.
Hudson said Xuya-Sian treated his victim with less regard than he should "an
injured animal."
Xuya-Sian, 27, pleaded guilty last month to vehicular assault, driving while
intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and other charges.
Suffolk prosecutors said Xuya-Sian struck Anselmo Chin-Sabam, 21, with his
2002 GMC Envoy in the parking lot of a Riverhead bar in April. Chin-Sabam
became lodged in the front left wheel of the SUV, and had his skin shredded
as Xuya-Sian drove three-quarters of a mile before realizing he was there.
Assistant District Attorney Thalia Stavrides said Xuya-Sian "stopped the
car, got out and undoubtedly dislodged him from the car," then kept driving,
crashing into a tree about two miles away. Stavrides said Xuya-Sian was
arrested with blood-alcohol level of .08 percent, right at the legal limit.
Chin-Sabam suffered first-degree burns on more than 40 percent of his body,
multiple fractures and had some parts of his body torn to the muscle,
Stavrides said. He is still recovering and was in no condition to be in
court Thursday, she said.
Given the opportunity to make a statement before receiving his sentence,
Xuya-Sian began speaking when his Legal Aid attorney, Bryan Browns,
interrupted him. Browns took him to the side, and then said his client would
remain silent.
Browns said Xuya-Sian, an illegal immigrant, had two children and a wife in
his native Guatemala and had been working a $450-a week job to help support
them.
"He regrets and he takes full responsibility for what happened," Browns said
in court. "I think his time in prison is going to allow him to reflect and
get on with his life."
Hudson said he would recommend that Xuya-Sian be deported after completing
his sentence -- a sentence that Hudson said was "too lenient" because of
limitations of law.
"[The sentence] is not enough to give consolation to your victim that this
is how such a violation of his body was punished," Hudson said.
http://www.newsday.com/news/local/ny-lidrag0817,0,6939721.story
