Thread: Honduran man accused in death of Denver lawyer pleads guilty to illegally reentering

Honduran man accused in death of Denver lawyer pleads guilty to illegally reentering U.S. after deportation

Norlan Estrada-Reyes was sentenced to time served — or 45 days — but will be taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement

By JESSE PAUL |The Denver Post
PUBLISHED: February 27, 2017 at 4:56 pm | UPDATED: February 27, 2017 at 5:12 pm


Provided by Denver Police Department
Norlan Estrada Reyes

The 27-year-old man accused of killing a young Denver lawyer in an October hit-and-run collision pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to illegally reentering the U.S. after being deported to Honduras in 2007.

Norlan Estrada-Reyes was sentenced to the 45 days he had already served, but will be taken into custody by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement upon his release in the federal case.

Federal prosecutors had asked that Estrada-Reyes, who was twice arrested in Denver before the crash that killed 28-year-old Karina Pulec — including for suspicion of driving under the influence — be sentenced to four months in prison.

However U.S. District Judge Philip A. Brimmer agreed with Estrada-Reyes’ attorney that he could not consider the pending hit-and-run case as an aggravating factor in how long the defendant should be incarcerated. A conviction for illegally reentering the country after being deported can put someone in federal prison for up to two years. But because of his relatively light conviction history, the sentencing recommendation for Estrada-Reyes was zero to six months.

Estrada-Reyes’ attorney argued for a lenient sentence for her client because he is a parent and an upstanding community member who coaches youth soccer and volunteered on Thanksgiving.

“He showers his kids with love,” she said. “He is known for his hard work.”

“You have the last word,” Estrada-Reyes told Brimmer through an interpreter before the sentence was handed down. “I’m five days short of having been detained in jail for three months.”

Estrada-Reyes likely will be freed from custody in the illegal reentry case before the middle of the week, but will be held by ICE pending almost-definite deportation. Denver prosecutors will have to work with federal immigration officials on the timeline of that process in order to ensure he faces charges in Pulec’s death.

The Denver’s District Attorney’s Office has filed a formal request to federal immigration officials asking to have Estrada-Reyes appear Friday in Denver court for an arraignment in the hit-and-run.


Wikimedia Commons
Karina Pulec

Estrada-Reyes’ case is the second in the past several months in which a person in the country illegally, who had previous run-ins with police, has been accused in a Denver killing. After a 2013 arrest for making a false report, Estrada-Reyes posted bond and was released before ICE agents reached him. In the other case, a driving under the influence arrest in 2014, ICE was not aware of his arrest or subsequent plea to driving while ability impaired.

The other Denver case involves Ever Valles, 19, who was released from the Denver jail in October after immigration officials flagged him as an enforcement priority. Police say on Feb. 7 that Valles, a known gang member, and another 19-year-old were involved in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Tim Cruz during a robbery at a light rail station.

Valles, a Mexican citizen, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Colorado jailers say they lack the authority under state law to hold inmates solely because of their immigration status.

Pulec was killed on Oct. 30 and Estrada-Reyes turned himself in to Denver police on Nov. 3. He was charged with felony hit-and-run involving death, driving without proof of insurance and careless driving resulting death.

According to federal court documents, immigration officers interviewed him Nov. 5 and issued an immigration detainer.

The Denver Sheriff Department says it notified ICE at 1:25 a.m. on Nov. 12 — as the agency had asked — that Estrada-Reyes was set to be released. He was freed at 7 p.m. that day. He had posted bail late on Nov. 11.

“Due to the Denver (Sheriff Department) local policy, the detainer was not honored and Estrada was released from custody to the streets,” according to the federal records.

It wasn’t until Dec. 5 that immigration officers arrested Estrada-Reyes outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse downtown after a court appearance in Pulec’s death. On Jan. 13, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Colorado filed a criminal complaint in federal court accusing him of illegally re-entering the country and he was later indicted on the charge.

Federal prosecutors don’t often charge people in the country illegally, who don’t have an extensive conviction history, with immigration-related crimes, deferring instead to ICE. Acting Colorado U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer said they reserve such prosecutions for immigrants who are a public safety threat — like Estrada-Reyes — in an effort to get them off the street.

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/02/27...united-states/

It's just insanity. Pure and Simple. Shame on you Colorado for having state laws that prevent your law enforcement from doing the right things to protect Americans. It's just craziness. A beautiful young lawyer is dead because of it, her future and dreams stolen from her, and another young man brutally murdered, by two illegal aliens who shouldn't have even been in our country to begin with. It's just needless unforgivable policy-driven travesty against the American People by evil politicians.

Someone please explain to me what is happening here?

If a person commits a crime,whether he/she is illegal or not, it is a crime and is punishable by that state.

We can prosecute illegals, imprison them, even execute them (Texas did).

If someone commits a crime in one state, flees to another, he/she is extradited and tried for the offense.

What does ICE have to do with it?

Is this a way for states to pass the buck? Pretend there's nothing they can do, so they don't have to take a stand?

By: The Associated Press March 4, 2017 Updated: Today at 8:42 am

DENVER — A Denver judge has raised bail to $1 million cash for a Honduran man charged in a fatal hit-and-run to make sure he is not deported before the state case is resolved.

District Judge Shelley Gilman made the decision Thursday in the case of Norlan Estrada-Reyes, who is charged in an October crash that killed Karina Pulec, 28, The Denver Post reported.

Reyes, who was deported in 2007, pleaded guilty Monday to a federal charge of illegally re-entering the United States. He was placed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody pending deportation.

On Thursday, Chief Deputy District Attorney Julie Hill asked for Reyes' bail to be increased to $1 million in the state case, arguing if he weren't in state custody ICE would deport him within a month. His next court appearance in the hit-and-run is scheduled for late April.

Reyes had previously posted $20,000 bail.

He was arrested by immigration officers in early December and charged with illegal re-entry. Acting Colorado U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer said his office doesn't usually file criminal charges but did so in the Reyes case to get him off the street.

Hill told Judge Gilman that ICE officials had suggested Denver prosecutors seek a no-bond hold for Reyes.

Defense attorney Brad Lozow argued Thursday that the $1 million bail was 100 times what a defendant is typically held on in such a case.

"What's being done in this case, your honor, is 'let's treat Mr. Reyes differently,'" Lozow told the court.

Judge Gilman said she'd seen enough cases where defendants were not tried because they had been deported. Reyes was taken into the custody of the sheriff's department after Thursday's hearing.

The ICE media office did not immediately respond to an email asking if the month time frame for deportation was accurate.

http://gazette.com/judge-ups-bail-in...rticle/1598145

by JOHN BINDER
23 Aug 2017
Denver, CO

An illegal alien was convicted for the vehicular death of a young woman in the sanctuary city of Denver, Colorado.

Norlan Estrada Reyes, an illegal alien from Honduras, had already been deported twice when in October 2016, he was drunk driving and hit Karina Pulec who was walking with a friend, according to CBS 4.

After Reyes crashed his white pickup truck, he fled the scene of the incident. Soon after, Pulec was pronounced dead. Reyes is set to serve 12 years in prison.

Officials with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said they had been trying to capture Reyes at the time of the incident. When Reyes was arrested for the hit-and-run, his bond was set at $1 million to prevent him from fleeing the country before trial.

Though the death of Pulec is similar to that of Kate Steinle’s, where she was killed by a previously deported illegal alien in the sanctuary city of San Francisco, the City of Denver does not seem to be backing down from its sanctuary policies.

Just days before Reyes’ conviction of Pulec’s death, Denver officials actually announced increased sanctuary policies, where local law enforcement does not detain illegal aliens wanted by ICE, the Denver Post reported.

Sanctuary city policies have proven dangerous for a slew of cities. Under most sanctuary guidelines, local law enforcement are prohibited from cooperating with ICE officials. When a suspected criminal illegal alien is released from local custody, they are free to enter back into the general public, despite efforts by ICE to detain and deport them.

“This is Denver,” Councilman Paul Lopez said during a news conference. “We are united, and we will not be bullied or coerced. Today we hope to clarify what the city is already doing … and to close a few gaps. We must continue to keep Denver safe.”

Lopez, nor the other sponsor of the sanctuary city proposal, Councilwoman Robin Kniech, mentioned Pulec’s death during the news conference.

http://www.breitbart.com/texas/2017/...y-city-denver/

How can a judge set any bail for an illegal immigrant?

Reyes is set to serve 12 years in prison. ONLY 12 years? Are you kidding me?