Thread: 8 immigrants arrested at Brewster school, charged with tresp

http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs ... 018/NEWS02

Charges reduced for Brewster day laborers

BILL HUGHES
THE JOURNAL NEWS

(Original publication: March 14, 2006)


BREWSTER — Charges against nearly all the men arrested in January for playing soccer on an elementary school playground were reduced last night from misdemeanors to violations during a hearing in Village Court.

The men, all day laborers who admitted to being in the country illegally, were arrested for playing soccer while classes were in session Jan. 9 at Garden Street Elementary School. Their arrests became a flashpoint in the debate over illegal immigration and the presence of day laborers on Brewster's Main Street.

Four of the eight men appeared before Village Justice Richard O'Rourke, entered guilty pleas to the lesser charge of trespassing, and were sentenced to time-served and released on the condition that they promise to stay off the grounds of any school in the village for a year. Three of the men had their hearings continued until next month. All but one of the men had previously been released on bail.

After the hearing, the four men smiled and shook hands outside the courthouse on South Main Street.

"They are all very relieved and feel that justice has been served," said Victor Padilla, Brewster's Hispanic liaison who translated for the men after last night's hearing. "This was all just one big misunderstanding that got blown way out of proportion."

Padilla said none of the men had any idea it was against the law to play soccer in a schoolyard because it is a common practice in Guatemala, their homeland.

The remaining men are due back in Village Court on April 10 and likely will reach the same plea agreement with the exception of Juan Jimenez, who remains in federal custody awaiting deportation proceedings.

Jimenez's lawyer, Francis O'Reilly, called his client's situation "absurd," because he would have been free like the other seven defendants but for a series of mishaps.

Initially, Jimenez's bail had been set at $3,000 because he could not clearly articulate or show documentation of his home address, while the other defendants had bail ranging from $1,000 to $1,500. Before his bail could be raised, the bureau of Immigration and Custom Enforcement obtained a detention order against him.

"He could have easily had the same deal. This was really a simple case," O'Reilly said. "This is not a case of good versus evil. These guys couldn't find work on this one day, and they didn't go to a bar or anything else, they went to play ball."

Jimenez remains in Pike County Detention Facility in Pennsylvania.

Last night O'Reilly submitted papers to bring Jimenez's case to trial. He's due back April 6 to continue the proceeding. Meanwhile, federal deportation proceedings will continue on a separate track, and O'Reilly said it was possible Jimenez could reach a deal with federal officials to leave the country voluntarily.

Kevin Reeves, the lawyer for Hector Gomez, the first man to stand before the judge last night, said the plea agreements for the other defendants were reached after a series of meetings with local officials and community leaders.

"This turned out to be resolved in everyone's favor, and I know that the mayor and the Village Board were instrumental in bringing this about," Reeves said. "A lot went on behind the scenes."

Padilla said he believes people on both sides of the issue were forced to confront a complex issue and listen to each other's opinions as a result.

"I think in the future we'll all get along a little bit better as a result of this incident," he said.

"They don't know how to read in English or Spanish. Some don't know how to even count. So having signs up is not going to help," Padilla said. "We have to go to the churches and where they hang out and explain the rules to them."

Ignorance of the law or just plain ignorance, is no excuse, unless of course, you're an illegal alien. PrOof once again that the law only applies to law abiding Americans.

REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER!