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  1. #1
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    Immigrant Could Get 10-Year Prison Term After Fifth Illegal

    http://www.dnronline.com/news_details.p ... 250&CHID=1

    Easy Come, Easy Go


    Immigrant Could Get 10-Year Prison Term After Fifth Illegal Entry Into U.S.

    Posted 2006-05-06

    By David Reynolds


    A man faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine after pleading guilty to illegally entering the United States — for the fifth time.

    On Thursday, Milton Joel Vasquez-Velasquez, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized re-entry after being deported, according to court documents.

    He will return to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg on August 9 for sentencing.

    Vasquez-Velasquez has returned after deportation four times before, according to a memorandum of investigation filed by agents with the Harrisonburg office of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

    His attorney, Kerry Armentrout, says that while Vasquez-Velasquez has been deported, he hasn’t been incarcerated for past illegal re-entries.

    According to the ICE memo in the court file, Vasquez-Velasquez has repeatedly wound up in the Northwest Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester.

    Since 2004, he has six convictions, including assault and battery, identity fraud and shoplifting, the memo says, citing the FBI’s criminal database as its source.

    Government Memo Lists Travel

    Vasquez-Velasquez’s first drew the attention of immigration authorities while incarcerated in New York in 2000, the memo says.

    On April 5, 2001, he was deported. The memo does not say where he was taken, but his attorney says Vasquez-Velasquez is from Honduras.

    Nine months later, U.S. Border Patrol agents caught Vasquez-Velasquez in Eagle Pass, Texas, the memo says. A month later, he was deported a second time.

    In January 2005, Vasquez-Velasquez first appeared in jail in Winchester, the memo says. In March of 2005, he was deported a third time.

    Six weeks later, Vasquez-Velasquez was back in the United States, back in Winchester — and back in jail, the memo says.

    On July 28, he was deported for the fourth time.

    Harrisonburg ICE agents returned to the Winchester jail on December 7 to again pick up Vasquez-Velasquez, the memo says.

    Re-Entry A Serious Crime

    Marc Raimondi, a spokesman for ICE, said prosecutors are now, more than before, seeking stiff prison sentences for those who re-enter the country after deportation.

    He didn’t know the specific case and so wouldn’t say why Vasquez-Velasquez was repeatedly deported.

    But the current prosecution by U.S. Attorney John Brownlee’s Office is addressing the problem, he said.

    "We’ve told you to stay out and you haven’t listened to us, and now we’re going to put you in jail," Raimondi said.

    He also said deportation is not a haphazard process, but that federal authorities work with foreign countries when returning illegals.

    After foreign countries are informed who is coming, Raimondi said, illegals are loaded on an airplane and flown home.

    An increasing number of those who return are now going to prison, he said.

    "The penalty isn’t going to be a ticket home," Raimondi said. "The penalty is going to be to put you in the penitentiary for 10 years."

    Re-Entry Common

    Armentrout, Vasquez-Velasquez’s attorney, said multiple re-entries are not uncommon, and that he is representing another client in a similar situation.

    Also, he’s not sure that prison will stop deportees from coming back. For some, he said, a cell and regular meals might be worth the risk of seeking a better life in the United States.

    But the attorney said he’s not sure what circumstances have led Vasquez-Velasquez to be so persistent.

    "I don’t know what life is like in Honduras," Armentrout said. "But neither does he — he hasn’t been there much in the last five years."

    Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

  2. #2
    Senior Member lsmith1338's Avatar
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    At this point if we cannot keep him from coming back into the country he should do prison time and hopefully by the time he gets out we will have secured our borders so he cannot get back in again.
    Freedom isn't free... Don't forget the men who died and gave that right to all of us....
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  3. #3
    Senior Member loservillelabor's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lsmith1338
    At this point if we cannot keep him from coming back into the country he should do prison time and hopefully by the time he gets out we will have secured our borders so he cannot get back in again.
    I think he should get prison time. However, the Senate's way of thinking would surely give this guy some "seniority" over other illegals and persons awaiting legal immigration. If not for the number of attempts, they would at least reward him for time accrued in the country during his numerous violations which will make him a guest worthy of "earned" citizenship.
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  4. #4
    Senior Member Brian503a's Avatar
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    http://www.rocktownweekly.com/news_deta ... 416&CHID=1

    Posted 2006-09-21

    Serial Offender Sentenced, Warned

    Judge Tells Honduran His Fifth Illegal Trip To Valley Had Better Be His Last



    By David Reynolds


    HARRISONBURG — Federal officials hope that deporting a man for the fifth time in five years will deter his repeated efforts to make the Shenandoah Valley his home.

    On Monday, a federal judge sentenced Milton Joel Vasquez-Velasquez, 27, to five months in prison for his conviction in May of illegally re-entering the country after having been deported, according to testimony in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg.

    Because Vasquez-Velasquez, an illegal immigrant from Honduras, has spent more than five months in federal custody awaiting trial, he’ll be handed over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation, Conrad said.

    Normally, inmates serve their sentences before facing deportation.

    Judge Glen Conrad called the punishment "lenient," but warned Vasquez-Velasquez that this is his last chance.

    "I strongly advise you not to enter the country illegally and put yourself in a position for a long prison sentence," Conrad said. If Vasquez-Velasquez is caught in the country again, Conrad said, he could revisit the sentence given Monday and make it steeper.

    At Home In The Valley

    Since 2001, Vasquez-Velasquez, of Honduras, has been deported four times, yet he’s repeatedly turned up at the Northwest Regional Adult Detention Center in Winchester, according to a memo filed by agents with the Office of the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Harrisonburg office.

    And since 2004, he’s been convicted of six misdemeanors, the memo says, including assault and battery, identity fraud and shoplifting.

    According to federal law, a conviction for illegal re-entry is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. But because Vasquez-Velasquez has no prior felony convictions, federal sentencing guidelines suggest a sentence of between two and eight months.

    The guidelines, which advise judges on sentencing, are created by comparing the convict to others who have a similar criminal history and who have been punished for the same offense.

    Conrad sentenced him to the midpoint of the guidelines and said Vasquez-Velasquez couldn’t afford to pay any fine. He must pay $100 in court costs.

    The judge also told Vasquez-Velasquez, "There is some reason to believe you are sorry about what you did and know that it was wrong."

    Last Chance

    After the hearing, Kerry Armentrout of Harrisonburg, Vasquez-Velasquez’s attorney, said that while his client had been deported multiple times, this was the first time he’d been prosecuted for illegal re-entry.

    Now, the felony conviction assures he’ll be eligible for a longer sentence if caught again, Armentrout said, adding: "Whether that deters him or not, I don’t know."

    Vasquez-Velasquez has family in New York, but Armentrout said he didn’t know why he kept returning to Winchester. But his affinity for the area increased his chances of getting caught, Armentrout said.

    "If he had just gone to different areas, it’s highly unlikely that he would have run into problems," he said. "But he continued to go to an area where he was recognized by the authorities."

    Ernestine Fobbs, a public affairs officer with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Vasquez-Velasquez will soon be flown to Honduras.

    "As soon as [the court] finishes with him, he’ll get his trip back home," she said.

    Contact David Reynolds at 574-6278 or reynolds@dnronline.com
    Support our FIGHT AGAINST illegal immigration & Amnesty by joining our E-mail Alerts at http://eepurl.com/cktGTn

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