Mexican nationals enter pleas in drug case; preliminary hearing set for next week in the case
Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Posted: 01/22/2011 01:10:02 AM PST

Three undocumented Mexican nationals pleaded not guilty to drug and firearms charges in Humboldt County Superior Court Friday, after several days of delays due to the lack of a certified Spanish-English translator.

Carlos Eduardo Colon, Samuel Joaquin Gonzalez and Mario Ruiz Arias were arrested Jan. 13 by the Eureka Police Department and face charges of possession of methamphetamine for sale, possession of marijuana for sale and unlawful possession of assault weapons. Through a translator, all pleaded not guilty to the charges Friday.

The trio first appeared in court for an arraignment Tuesday, but the hearing was continued to Wednesday due to problems with the court's telephonic translation service. Similarly, when a certified translator was not available, Wednesday's hearing was pushed to Friday when an interpreter was available to translate the proceedings into Spanish for the defendants and their responses into English for the court.

EPD officers served a search warrant on the 1000 block of Cousins Street on Jan. 13 in response to neighborhood complaints and arrested the three men afterward, finding 54 grams of powdered methamphetamine, 35 pounds of processed marijuana and six firearms at the residence, including a pair of assault weapons, police said.

In the wake of the arrest, both EPD Sgt. Steve Watson and Humboldt County Sheriff's Office Immigration Liaison Stan Wickham said there was evidence indicating the men may be connected to a Mexican drug trafficking organization. Colon's attorney, Russell Clanton, has disputed that notion, saying it represented a “fast and loose approachâ€