Thread: Local man sentenced for harboring illegal alien

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Local man sentenced for harboring illegal alien

Published: Friday, June 9, 2006 1:33 PM CDT


CEDAR RAPIDS — A Charles City man was sentenced to five months in prison on Thursday for harboring an illegal immigrant.

Chris Bluhm, 29, pleaded guilty to the charge in federal court on Feb. 8. His prison term will be followed by four months in a community corrections center.

In his plea agreement, Bluhm admitted to living with his girlfriend in Charles City after she had been deported to Mexico following her conviction on a drug charge, according to press release from Assistant U.S. Attorney C.J. Williams.

In March 2004, Monica Espiricueta-Arrendondo was convicted in U.S. District Court of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and marijuana. Espiricueta was not a citizen of the United States and was deported back to Mexico at the end of her 24-month prison sentence in December 2004.

One year later, agents from the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (BICE) discovered Espiricueta was living with Bluhm at 402 Eighth Ave.

Bluhm did not answer the door when agents came to his home, the release said. When agents entered by force, Bluhm initially told them Espiricueta was not present, but later advised she was upstairs. Agents found Espiricueta hiding in a closet in a second-floor bedroom, the release said.

Bluhm also faces a $100 special assessment and two years of supervised release following his imprisonment.

There is no parole in the federal judicial system.

Hopefully this might start a trend.