illegal aliens

....A Hillsboro officer stopped a Dodge Stratus about 10 p.m....

The officer searched the driver, Israel Garcia-Barragan, 39, of Hillsboro, and found a hollowed out lip balm container that had meth inside, Rouches said. The officer then searched the car and found a handgun under a seat, a baggie with six ounces of meth inside a food container and a scale thought to be used for weighing the drugs, according to Rouches.

Garcia-Barragan and his passenger, Marcos Gambino-Arroyo, 27, of Hillsboro, were both arrested...
 

Marcos Gambino-Arroyo - ICE HOLD Read more about Meth in lip balm tube, food container leads to arrests of Hillsboro men, police say

Commissioner Steve Novick on Tuesday pointedly questioned the city's police chief, asking how Portland is benefiting from its nearly $ 4 million investment in the Police Bureau's Drugs and Vice Division.

If enforcement isn't reducing drug use, Novick asked, "What are we getting for our $4 million? ...

The division works to disrupt mid- to high-level drug traffickers through arrests, seizures of drugs and drug proceeds...

In recent years, drug cartels based in Mexico have come to control the heroin, cocaine and meth trades in Portland...

"These are large-scale poly-drug traffickers,'' Reese said....

  Read more about Portland police chief defends work of the bureau's Drugs and Vice Division before city council

The Oregon Supreme Court has certified a ballot title for the driver card referendum on the November ballot that includes a controversial reference to "legal presence."

The title will read: Provides Oregon resident "driver card" without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States.

...The titles are sometimes the only thing voters will read about a measure...

Supporters unsuccessfully pursued a legislative rewrite of the ballot title...

In its April 1 decision, the Oregon Supreme Court certified the ballot title written by Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum.

  Read more about Driver card referendum: Oregon Supreme Court rules on ballot title fight

An Australian man is being deported back to his home country after pleading guilty Monday to using the Internet to lure a Sweet Home teenager into a sexual relationship.

Rowan Thomson-Sapstead was sentenced to time already served in the case and will be turned over to immigration authorities for deportation. He entered a plea in U.S. District Court in Eugene to a charge of using a computer to transmit obscene communications to a minor.

Police in Linn County arrested Thomson-Sapstead, 31, in January. According to police, he arrived in Sweet Home in December from Canada, where he was living at the time, to meet up with a 17-year-old he allegedly met online the month before.

The two began a sexual relationship, and at one point traveled to Nevada together before returning to Oregon, according to court records.

Thomson-Sapstead appeared before U.S. District Judge Michael McShane. Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Potter called the crime a serious one and said Internet communication has made it easier for adults to prey on vulnerable teenagers.

“It allows people to have access to teenagers they otherwise wouldn’t have,” she said.

Potter said Thomson-­Sapstead will have to register as a sex offender and will be barred from returning to the United States without permission. Although federal sentencing guidelines called for a prison term of up to 21 months, Potter said the time-served sentence is a just one given the circumstances.

The victim and her family agreed to the sentence, Potter said. But she cautioned Thomson-­Sapstead not to try to communicate with the girl through any means, saying she has no desire to hear from him.

Linn County has agreed to drop charges of luring a minor and contributing to the sexual delinquency of a minor as part of Thomson-­Sapstead’s agreement to plead guilty to the federal charge.

According to reports, police arrested Thomson-Sapstead after someone reported that an underage girl had been staying with an older man at a motel in Sweet Home. Thomson-Sapstead posted bail, fled the area and was arrested again trying to re-enter Canada from Washington, court documents said.

Thomson-Sapstead had been living in Kelowna, B.C. Potter said he has indicated he wants to return to Canada but it is unknown whether Canada will allow that. Read more about Sex convict faces deportation

Despite attempts by various parties to change a ballot initiative’s title and alter its summary for voters, the state Supreme Court last week ordered that Referendum 301 be upheld as certified in 2013 by the Secretary of State’s office and named by state attorney general.

Last October, the groups Oregonians for Immigration Reform and Protect Oregon Driver Licenses, submitted almost 60,000 signatures to overturn legislation, Senate Bill 833, that had been passed by lawmakers and signed by Gov. John Kitzhaber earlier in 2013.

The groups opposed the bi-partisan backed bill, which would have allowed the state to issue driver-privilege cards to individuals without DMV-required documentations such as a birth certificate or passport. The groups worked throughout last summer collecting signatures, offering drive-through petition signature-gathering events and staffing booths at the Oregon State Fair.

Jim Ludwick, a spokesman for both groups, said they were delighted the state’s highest court upheld the second title issued by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum. The groups thought the first one issued by the AG’s office wasn’t descriptive enough, and asked for a rewrite. They were satisfied with the second one issued, and were opposed to late-session efforts by the Legislature to use its authority to rewrite the revised title.

“There were a few issues we had with the summary of the ballot measure that we would have liked to see changed that didn’t happen,” Ludwick said. “But we’re pleased that the court’s order means the title in no longer in peril.”

Petitioners to uphold the ballot title included Republican lawmakers Kim Thatcher and Sal Esquivel, while petitioners to overturn it included Rebecca Straus of the Oregon chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Rep. Sal Esquivel, R-Medford, said he was pleased with the court’s order, and said the Legislature should never have attempted to tamper with the citizen initiative process in the first place.

“It’s the only way people can come forth and say they ‘disagree with us.’ That’s what the process is, and it was just wrong to try and change it,” Esquivel said.

Referendum 301 remains titled “Provides Oregon resident “driver card” without requiring proof of legal presence in the United States, and will appear on ballots for the November election.
  Read more about Oregon Supreme Court orders ballot title on drivers card to stand

Two Florida men are facing aggravated identity theft charges after Beaverton police say they were found with more than 100 counterfeit credit cards and other items used to hit several Portland area retailers.

Raul Alejandro Gonzalez-Rodriguez, 26, of Miami, and Yasser Ramon Hernandez, 28, of Miami, were arrested at the Portland International Airport...

...The duo allegedly targeted stores including Nordstrom, Staples, Office Depot, Toys R' Us, Burlington Coat Factory, Dick's Sporting Goods, Sears, JC Penney and TJ Maxx...

Gonzalez-Rodriguez admitted to using the fraudulent credit cards, the affidavit said, because he found it difficult to find a job with a criminal record, it was an easy way to make money and he "liked to live lavishly". Hernandez said he did it to support his family.

The two may face additional charges, Rowe said. According to the affidavit, Gonzalez-Rodriguez has an outstanding warrant out of Idaho for illegal credit cards.

Raul Alejandro Gonzalez-Rodriguez - ICE HOLD

  Read more about Florida men caught with over 100 counterfeit credit cards linked to Portland-area thefts, police say

A 31-year-old man linked to the August 2013 murder on James Street in Woodburn has pleaded guilty to attempted assault in the second degree.

Juan Torres-Santizo, who was originally facing charges of attempted murder, was sentenced to eight months imprisonment with three years of post-prison supervision by Judge Dale Penn Tuesday for his involvement in a fight with Antonio Segundo, who was unharmed.

However, the Aug. 4 fight at the Victorian Apartments did result in the stabbing death of 23-year-old Juan Bravo Luna, and Mateo Torres-Morales is charged with his murder. The trial for Torres-Morales, who has pleaded not guilty, is set for Nov. 12 before Judge Dennis Graves.

According to a statement from Marion County deputy district attorney Joe Hollander, Torres-Santizo will serve as a material witness in that trial, along with Felipe Torres-Morales and Gaspar Torres-Morales.

Additionally, all four are being held under immigration and customs enforcement. Read more about Man pleads guilty to involvement in deadly James Street fight

Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros has been denied bond by a federal immigration judge, meaning that she must remain in custody at the Northwest Dentention Center in Tacoma, Wash., while her immigration case is pending.

Garcia-Cisneros, 19, was convicted in January of felony hit-and-run in the October deaths of stepsisters Anna Dieter-Eckerdt and Abigail Robinson in Forest Grove.

"In her opinion the judge found Cinthya both a flight risk and a danger," ... <attorney> Read more about Steve Duin blog: Cinthya Garcia-Cisneros denied bond in Tacoma immigration hearing