Judge halts immigration cases
Friday, December 12, 2008
Sharon Dunn

A Weld District Court judge is questioning the legality of search warrants issued in the cases against 1,300 suspected illegal immigrants using fake identification.

Weld District Court Judge James Hartmann this week put a halt to further arrests in Operation Number Games — if the arrests are based on information found in the suspects’ federal tax returns — and he demanded some explanations before proceeding with the cases.

The operation targets more than 1,300 people suspected of gaining tax returns with false or stolen identities.

Authorities have so far arrested 37 people who filed tax returns with Amalia’s Tax Service, 1501 9th St., in Greeley. Last month, authorities seized two years worth of federally approved tax returns from the tax preparer’s office, claiming that the suspects gained as much as
$2.7 million combined in tax returns based on false Social Security
numbers. Suspects have been charged with identity theft, criminal impersonation or both.

In a court order in one of the cases, Hartmann ordered District Attorney Ken Buck to provide more information on the arrest warrants and provide a “memorandum of legal authorityâ€