crime

The Oregon Court of Appeals has reversed the conviction of a young woman who killed two girls in 2013 when she ran over them...

There was insufficient evidence to establish beyond a reasonable doubt that Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros knew or had reason to know she injured stepsisters...

Authorities said the girls were likely lying in a large mound of leaves on the street in October 2013...

The Appeals Court said Oregon law doesn't require a driver to return to the scene of an accident after leaving and later learning that someone else was injured or killed.

...Garcia-Cisneros testified during her trial in January 2014 that she felt a bump while driving over the leaves, but thought she'd run over a rock.

...The boy returned home and told his sister she might have hit two children. She was arrested the next day.

A Washington County Circuit Court jury convicted Garcia-Cisneros, then 19, of failure to perform the duties of a driver. Judge Rick Knapp later sentenced her to three years of probation and 250 hours of community service.

Prosecutors argued Oregon's hit-and-run law required Garcia-Cisneros to go back to the crash site after she learned someone may have been hurt. Garcia-Cisneros initially sought an acquittal citing insufficient evidence to prove her guilt, but it was denied by the lower court. She later appealed her conviction.

Garcia-Cisneros' attorney said during the trial that she was shocked and in a state of denial after she found out about the children...

Garcia-Cisneros told the girls' parents during her sentencing hearing that she should have returned to the scene and asked for forgiveness. The girls' mother, Susan Dieter-Robinson, said they did forgive her.

After her conviction, Garcia-Cisneros was taken to the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma because she wasn't an American citizen....

Her conviction put her in danger of deportation, but an immigration judge dismissed her case in August 2014 and she was released from custody.... Read more about Driver who ran over girls playing in leaf pile has conviction overturned

Much attention has been given to the antics of crazy California politicians like Kamala Harris, Kevin de Leon, and Nancy Pelosi, who all advocate for sanctuary city/state policies and call anyone opposed to their view racist or "white supremacist" - and can somehow say with a straight face that this policy doesn't put Americans at risk.

But, there are elected officials and law enforcement officers in the state who strongly oppose these policies and, in particular, Senate Bill 54, which would prohibit law enforcement agencies in the state from using "agency or department moneys, facilities, property, equipment, or personnel to investigate, interrogate, detain, detect, or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes."

Law enforcement associations have made their concerns known, but since SB 54 has passed the Senate, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department is taking their concerns straight to the public, posting a "rap sheet" of some of the actual Ventura County inmates recently detained by ICE. 

As a follow-up to our concerns over Senate Bill 54, we would like to provide more factual information regarding the types of individuals that would be released into our community if immigration authorities are not allowed in our jail as would be mandated by this bill. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has continued to review inmates in the jail who might have possibly been in the country illegally.

The report stated that ICE had detained 50 inmates in the last 30 days, but the county averages 1,373 ICE detainers a year. All but one of the 50 had either a prior arrest history, current felony charges, or prior deportation orders (yet found themselves in jail again). The Sheriff's Department then posted a sample of the charges of those detained by ICE:

• Inmate 1 Current Arrest – felony domestic violence; Prior Arrests – drunk driving; stealing a vehicle; hit and run; drunk in public; under the influence of a controlled substance; possession of drugs; possession of drug paraphernalia 
• Inmate 2 Current Arrest – felony domestic violence; dissuading a victim from testifying; obstructing the use of a communication devices to prevent summoning assistance; Prior Arrests – felony domestic violence (twice); assault with a deadly weapon; child endangerment; illegal entry; previously deported 
• Inmate 3 Current Arrest – felony domestic violence; false imprisonment; resisting arrest; kidnapping; Prior Arrests – sexual battery; burglary; robbery; false information to a peace officer; brandishing a weapon; false imprisonment; kidnapping; stealing a vehicle; illegal entry; previously deported 
• Inmate 4 Current Arrest – possession of a controlled substance for sale; transportation of a controlled substance (twice); driving on a suspended license; Prior Arrests – battery (twice); drunk in public; vandalism; transportation, sales, or distribution of a dangerous drug; transportation of a controlled substance; drunk driving (twice)
• Inmate 5 Current Arrest – felony drunk driving; driving without an ignition interlock device; driving on a suspended license; Prior Arrests – lewd acts with a child under 14; driving on a suspended drivers’ license (five times); drunk driving (twice); unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor 
• Inmate 6 Current Arrest – assault with a deadly weapon; attempted kidnapping; Prior Arrests – possession of drugs (twice); possession of drug paraphernalia (three times); prowling; theft (twice); false information to a peace officer (twice); drunk in public; robbery (three times); felony domestic violence; assault with a deadly weapon (three times); kidnapping (twice) 
• Inmate 7 Current Arrest – domestic violence; Prior Arrests – felony criminal threats (twice); domestic violence (twice); child endangerment; driving without a license; driving with a suspended license; possession of drugs; theft (twice); possession of stolen property; false information to a peace officer; stealing a vehicle; illegal entry
• Inmate 8 Current Arrest – kidnapping; false imprisonment; lewd acts with a child under 14; Prior Arrests – resisting arrest; under the influence of drugs (twice); kidnapping; lewd acts with a child under 14, drunk in public 
• Inmate 9 Current Arrest – warrant for resisting arrest, false information to a peace officer, domestic violence, violation of a domestic violence court order; Prior Arrests – brandishing a weapon; felony domestic violence; felony criminal threats; drunk in public (twice); violation of a domestic violence court order (three times); vandalism; domestic violence (twice); resisting arrest (twice); false information to a peace officer 
• Inmate 10 Current Arrest – felony domestic violence; Prior Arrests – felony domestic violence; previously deported
• Inmate 11 Current Arrest – possession of a short barreled shotgun; Prior Arrests – assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a short barreled shotgun (twice), assault, carrying a concealed firearm, illegal entry 
• Inmate 12 Current Arrest – under the influence of drugs; Prior Arrests – felony domestic violence, burglary, inflicting injury to a child, under the influence of drugs, resisting arrest, unlicensed driver, drunk driving, possession of drug paraphernalia, false information to a peace officer 
• Inmate 13 Current Arrest – possession of drugs for sale; Prior Arrests – possession of drugs for sale (twice); previously deported 
• Inmate 14 Current Arrest – under the influence of drugs; Prior Arrest – member of a street gang, assault with a deadly weapon, conspiracy, possession of drugs, drunk driving, trespassing 
• Inmate 15 Current Arrest – felony domestic violence; Prior Arrests – felony domestic violence; child endangerment; false imprisonment; domestic battery; drunk driving; hit and run

Members of gangs, drug dealers, sex offenders, pedophiles, assault with a deadly weapon, repeat drunk drivers, repeat domestic violence, violating court orders - yeah, these are not harmless people just looking for a way to have a better life. Good for you, Sheriff, on giving the people you're sworn to protect the facts. Read more about CA Sheriff Hits Back at "Sanctuary State" Rhetoric by Showing Just Who Would be Protected

An undocumented immigrant out on bail kept showing up to court in Portland to face state gun and drug charges until federal immigration agents ran his name and took him into custody on a deportation order.

The man's defense attorney described the case as "fairly extraordinary,'' noting his client, Jose Alfredo Bustos-Bustos, followed court orders to appear when necessary, despite the current national crackdown on illegal immigration.

"Only after leaving his third court appearance was he picked up by immigration officials,'' said Assistant Federal Public Defender Stephen Sady.

On Friday, a federal judge ordered Bustos-Bustos, 30, to remain in custody pending trial on new federal charges, including illegal alien in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stacie B. Beckerman found Bustos-Bustos a danger to the community based on the nature of the alleged offenses...

A fingerprint suspected to be from a child under age 4 was found on the AR-15 rifle, Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Sax said.

Officers also noticed a statute in the apartment of Mexican folk saint Jesus Malverde -- described by Beal in an affidavit as the "patron saint of drug traffickers.''

Court records in Multnomah County indicate Bustos-Bustos' children were taken into protective custody after his arrest.

He was arraigned in Multnomah County Circuit Court on Jan. 25, and the next day, posted 10 percent of his $110,000 bail and was released...

On March 24, according to the federal complaint, Special Agent Shawn Mohr, a deportation officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, wrote a report that a computerized check on Bustos-Bustos revealed he faced a previous deportation order out of California. Bustos-Bustos, as a result, was transferred to a federal facility in Tacoma.

The federal complaint was issued April 24. Bustos-Bustos was taken back into custody by Gresham police on April 25 on the federal gun and drug charges...

His wife, Miriam Karina Avila, 25, is out of custody, facing possession and delivery of methamphetamine and cocaine allegations...

Before Bustos-Bustos was returned to federal custody in Portland, Avila was granted permission to leave Oregon to travel to a detention center in Tacoma to visit her husband on weekends, according to court records.

Jose Alfredo Bustos-Bustos, who was out of custody on state drug and firearms charges since a January arrest, has now been detained on new federal charges, including illegal alien in possession of a firearm. A U.S. magistrate judge on Friday ordered he remain in custody pending trial. Read more about State firearm, drug charges turn to federal case on man accused of being illegal immigrant

SAN DIEGO — U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers at the San Ysidro port of entry yesterday took an undocumented man into custody, who was wanted for sexual assault of a minor and burglary, as he was attempting to enter into Mexico.

On Wednesday, April 26, Santiago Flores-Martinez, a 48-year-old undocumented Mexican citizen, was attempting to enter Mexico when he was stopped by the port’s Anti-Terrorism Contraband Enforcement Team (A-TCET) who was conducting southbound inspections of travelers.

A CBP officer conducted a query to get biometric information on the man via the “Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System” (IAFIS). CBP officers confirmed Flores-Martinez was an exact match to active National Crime Information Center (NCIC) arrest warrants out of Clackamas County, Oregon, on charges of sexual assault of a minor and first degree burglary stipulating no bail.

“CBP officers routinely encounter and stop dangerous fugitives, attempting to depart the United States,” said Pete Flores, director of field operations for CBP in San Diego. “Working with our law enforcement partners is not only critical but necessary in order to ensure justice is served.”

After the warrants were confirmed, CBP officers turned over custody of Flores-Martinez to the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS). He will be extradited to Oregon to face charges.

CBP officers put an immigration detainer on Flores so that after the judicial process he will be returned to DHS custody.

Criminal charges are merely allegations. Defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.

For more information about this case, please click on link to read a news release from the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office: http://www.clackamas.us/sheriff/pressreleases/2017-03-01-CCSOPR-SexAssaultSuspectSketch.html

For statistics on more of our apprehensions, please visit our CBP Enforcement Statistics webpage.

For statistics on criminal aliens apprehended, please visit our Criminal Alien Statistics webpage.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws. Read more about CBP Officers Catch Man Wanted for Sexual Assault of a Minor and Burglary as he Headed to Mexico

Oregon police were hunting an ex-con Mexican national accused of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old Portland girl while her younger sister slept just a few feet away.

Previously-deported Santiago Martinez-Flores, 48, has a decades old criminal history and already served time for assault, criminal mischief, unauthorized use of a vehicle and failure to perform the duties of a driver. He was deported in March 2001 after a two-year prison sentence but made his way back to the U.S. sometime before the February sexual assault in which he’s suspected, Fox 12 reported.

The girl was sexually assaulted as she slept in her apartment on Feb. 26, according to investigators. But she woke up during the incident and, after the intruder tried to hold her down, the girl was able to break free and run to her parents’ room, officials said.

The girl’s father quickly retrieved a gun and ran to confront the man, who had already escaped. However, the girl was able to describe her attacker and authorities said they found physical evidence linking Martinez-Flores to the crime.

Martinez-Flores may be using the alias “Felipe Coeto” or “Isidro Ramos Flores.”

“It's a terrible thing, and to have somebody take advantage of a child like that I think is one of the worst things that a human being can do,” neighbor Debra Griffith told KATU2. “I hope they put them away for a long, long time.” Read more about Suspect in sex assault of 9-year-old girl had been deported to Mexico

On March 1, 2017 Oregon’s Marion County had 236 of the 974 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) prison system; the county was first in foreign national crime in the state with 24.23 percent of the criminal aliens in DOC prisons.

The following table reveals how Marion County residents were harmed or victimized by the 236 criminal aliens incarcerated on March 1st in the DOC prison system with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration detainers.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17.

This table reveals, using the DOC ICE detainer numbers from March 1st, the total number of criminal alien inmates incarcerated in the DOC prison system by type of crime from all Oregon counties, the total number of criminal alien inmates from Marion County in DOC prisons by type of crime and the percentage of those alien inmates who were from the county by type of crime.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17.

The following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the majority of the 236 criminal aliens with ICE immigration detainers who have harmed or victimized the residents Marion County in the DOC prison system.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17.

Criminal aliens from 21 different countries have harmed or victimized the residents of Marion County.

David Olen Cross of Salem, Oregon writes on immigration issues and foreign national crime. This report is a service to state, county and city governmental officials in Marion County to help them assess the impact of foreign national crime in the county. He can be reached at docfnc@yahoo.com or at http://docfnc.wordpress.com/

https://docfnc.wordpress.com/2017/04/17/oregons-marion-county-first-in-foreign-national-crime-in-march-2017/

  Read more about Oregon’s Marion County First in Foreign National Crime in March 2017

The Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) March 1, 2017 Inmate Population Profile indicated there were 14,654inmates incarcerated in the DOC’s 14 prisons.

Data obtained from the DOC indicated that on March 1st there were 974 foreign nationals (criminal aliens) incarcerated in the state’s prison system; almost one in every fifteen prisoners incarcerated by the state was a criminal alien, 6.65 percent of the total prison population.

Some background information, all 974 criminal aliens currently incarcerated in the DOC prison system were identified by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. If an inmate is identified by ICE as being a criminal alien, at the federal law enforcement agency’s request, DOC officials will place an “ICE detainer” on the inmate. After the inmate completes his/her state sanction, prison officials will transfer custody of the inmate to ICE.

Using DOC Inmate Population Profiles and ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the total number inmates, the number of domestic and criminal alien inmates along with the percentage of them with ICE detainers incarcerated on March 1st in the state’s prisons.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17 and Inmate Population Profile 01 March 17.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on March 1st that were sent to prison from the state’s 36 counties.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17.

Here are the ways Oregon residents were victimized by the 974 criminal aliens.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the number and percentage of criminal alien prisoners incarcerated on March 1st by type of crime.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17.

Using the DOC Inmate Population Profile and ICE detainer numbers from March 1st, the following table reveals the total number inmates by crime type, the number of domestic and criminal alien prisoners incarcerated by type of crime and the percentage of those crimes committed by criminal aliens.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17 and Inmate Population Profile 01 March 17.

Using DOC ICE detainer numbers, the following table reveals the self-declared countries of origin of the 974 criminal alien prisoners by number and percentage incarcerated on March 1st in the state’s prisons.
 

Source: Research and Evaluation DOC Report ICE inmates list 01 March 17.

Beyond the DOC criminal alien incarceration numbers and incarceration percentages, per county and per crime type, or even country of origin, criminal aliens pose high economic cost on Oregonians.

An individual prisoner incarcerated in the DOC prison system costs the state approximately ($94.55) per day.

The DOC’s incarceration cost for its 974 criminal alien prison population is approximately ($92,091.70) per day, ($644,641.90) per week, and ($33,613,470.50) per year.

Even taking into account fiscal year 2016 U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice, State Criminal Alien Assistance Program (SCAAP) award of $1,788,075.00, if the State of Oregon receives the same amount of SCAAP funding for fiscal year 2017, the cost to incarcerate 974 criminal aliens to the DOC will be at least ($31,825,395.50).

None of preceding cost estimates for the DOC to incarcerate the 974 criminal aliens includes the dollar amount for legal services (indigent defense), language interpreters, court costs, or victim assistance.

  Read more about Oregon Department of Corrections: Criminal Alien Report March 2017

SALEM — State lawmakers are considering a change to sentencing law that could help prevent the mandatory federal deportation of legal immigrants convicted of gross misdemeanors.

The proposal is in an amendment to Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum’s bill:[HB 2355] to discourage racial profiling.

The change would reduce the maximum sentence for a Class A misdemeanor from 365 days to 364 days. A 365-day sentence is one of several triggers for mandatory federal deportation of green card holders, refugees and other legal noncitizens. Other triggers are violent crimes and felonies, said Stephen Manning, a Portland immigration attorney.

The change would have no effect on illegal immigrants.

“This is an equity issue,” said state House Speaker Tina Kotek, D-Portland. “People should not be torn from their families and their communities because of an arbitrary difference between state and federal sentencing law for low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors.”

If adopted, the law would make Oregon uniform with Washington state and California, which already made the change in the last several years.

It would serve to strengthen the three states’ governors’ efforts to create “a zone of inclusivity” along the West Coast, Manning said.

Gov. Kate Brown has been defiant in the face of President Donald Trump’s executive orders limiting immigration and banning refugees, which also have been halted by the courts.

In February, Brown issued her own executive order barring the use of state resources to enforce federal immigration policy. Rosenblum subsequently sought to join Washington’s lawsuit against the Trump administration’s immigration orders.

“Gov. Brown supports the amendment and looks forward to signing the racial profiling bill into law to better protect all Oregonians,” said Bryan Hockaday, the governor’s press secretary.

Kotek requested the sentencing change to be added to an amendment to a bill that requires police to collect data on race when they pull over drivers or pedestrians. The bill is meant to discourage racial profiling by law enforcement.

Kotek made the request after receiving feedback from community groups, law enforcement, immigration attorneys and others working on the racial profiling bill, said Lindsey O’Brien, a spokeswoman in the Speaker’s Office.

Felonies, certain violent crimes and 365-day or greater sentences for gross misdemeanors can trigger mandatory deportation under federal law. Class A misdemeanors in Oregon can range from falsifying information and writing a bad check to fourth-degree assault.

“Shifting to 364 days means our fellow Oregonians are not subject to that very drastic penalty,” Manning said.

As an immigration attorney, Manning said he sees legal immigrants deported for misdemeanor crimes all of the time.

“I couldn’t even count for you how many times,” he said. “It’s extremely painful and sad … and is a form of stigmatization against noncitizens.”

The House Judiciary Committee adopted the amendment and approved the overarching bill in March. No one addressed the significance of the sentencing change at that time.

Reps. Sal Esquivel of Medford, and Mike Nearman of Independence said they oppose the change because they see it as an attempt to circumvent federal law.

“To me that is a way to dodge the federal law,” said Esquivel, who is the son of a legal Mexican immigrant. “You’re on probation when you come here on a green card.”

The two Republican lawmakers co-sponsored legislation this session to outlaw sanctuary city designations and to make English the state’s official language.

Several Oregon cities, including Portland, have declared themselves sanctuary cities for immigrants, and the Trump administration has threatened to pull federal grants and other funding from those jurisdictions.

The bill is now before the Joint Committee on Ways and Means but won’t have another hearing until May, said Rep. Duane Stark, R-Grants Pass, chairman of the Subcommittee on Public Safety.

The Capital Bureau is a collaboration between EO Media Group and Pamplin Media Group.
  Read more about Legislation could prevent some deportations of legal immigrants

EXCLUSIVE –  The cartel member suspected of shooting and killing Border Patrol agent Brian Terry in 2010 with a gun supplied by the U.S. government was arrested in Mexico Wednesday, senior law enforcement, Border Patrol, and congressional sources told Fox News. 

The suspect, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes, was apprehended by a joint U.S.-Mexico law enforcement task force that included the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals and the Border Patrol Tactical Unit (BORTAC).

A $250,000 reward had been sought for information leading to the arrest of Osorio-Arellanes, who was captured at a ranch on the border of the Mexican states of Sinaloa and Chihuahua. U.S. authorities have said they will seek his extradition.

Terry was killed on Dec. 14, 2010 in a gunfight between Border Patrol agents and members of a five-man cartel "rip crew," which regularly patrolled the desert along the U.S.-Mexico border looking for drug dealers to rob. 

The agent's death exposed Operation Fast and Furious, a Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) operation in which the federal government allowed criminals to buy guns in Phoenix-area shops with the intention of tracking them once they made their way into Mexico. But the agency lost track of more than 1,400 of the 2,000 guns they allowed smugglers to buy. Two of those guns were found at the scene of Terry's killing. 

The operation set off a political firestorm, and then-Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress after he refused to divulge documents for a congressional investigation.

Four members of the "rip crew" already been sentenced to jail time in the U.S. Manual Osorio-Arellanes was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to first-degree murder in February 2014. 

In October 2015, Ivan Soto-Barraza and Jesus Sanchez-Meza were convicted by a federal jury of nine different charges, including first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery. 

Rosario Rafael Burboa-Alvarez, accused of assembling the "rip crew," was sentenced to 27 years in prison after striking a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The last remaining member of the "rip crew," Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, is believed to still be at large. Read more about Fast and Furious scandal: Suspected triggerman in border agent's murder arrested