Thread: CA-S.F. crack case highlights immigration dilemma

S.F. crack case highlights immigration dilemma
Jaxon Van Derbeken
Friday, September 18, 2009


(09-17) 14:51 PDT SAN FRANCISCO --

A Honduran immigrant accused of selling crack in the Tenderloin went on trial Thursday in San Francisco, with his attorney telling the jury that human traffickers had forced his client to sell drugs under threat of his life.

The case of Rigoberto Valle, 23, puts District Attorney Kamala Harris in a potentially awkward position. On the one hand, she has been vocal about her emphasis on prosecuting human traffickers. On the other, Harris - a candidate for state attorney general - has also been vocal in support of cracking down on drug sales in the Tenderloin.

The prosecution of Valle also raises the volatile issue of illegal immigrants engaged in drug sales. Supporters of the city's sanctuary efforts say many immigrants are the victims of drug cartels and forced to sell once they are brought here.

Valle is subject to possible deportation after his trial, regardless of whether he is convicted, because authorities believe he is in the country illegally.

Prosecutor Richard Hechler, in his opening statement, told the jury that Valle was guilty, plain and simple. He said Valle sold two rocks of crack to an undercover officer on June 4 at Larkin Street and Golden Gate Avenue.

"This case is a sale of a controlled substance, crack cocaine, by that gentleman, that night," Hechler said.

Valle's attorney, deputy public defender Hadi Razzaq, told jurors that his client is a victim who was brought to San Francisco by smugglers after a grueling journey by freight car and desert hike. Once here, he was ordered to sell drugs or be killed, Razzaq said.

"Deceived, imprisoned, intimidated, victimized, terrified - ladies and gentlemen, Rigoberto Valle is not guilty," Razzaq told the jury.

Razzaq said Valle, who is expected to testify in his own defense, had sold his house in Honduras to raise $1,500 for the trip to the United States. Once he got near San Francisco, the smugglers demanded $500 more, which Valle did not have, Razzaq said.

"They locked him up for three days, and on the fourth day in the Bay Area, they forced him to sell," Razzaq said.

He had been on the corner of Golden Gate and Larkin just 10 minutes when he was arrested, the defense lawyer said.

Razzaq said he would call an expert on human trafficking to support his defense of Valle. His client, he said, came from a village of about 100 houses, is illiterate and came to this country to support his family.

"He was terrified - he had been duped, he was essentially kidnapped and locked in a room for three days," Razzaq said. "He was quite literally in fear for his life."

Brian Buckelew, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said that although Harris is sympathetic to the plight of the victims of human traffickers, Valle's defense has offered nothing but rhetoric to back his story.

"There hasn't been any kind of tender to us of any evidence that would be verifiable," Buckelew said. "This is what trials are for. It is not the practice of this office to throw cases away when there is not even a proffer of evidence to support the defense."

E-mail Jaxon Van Derbeken at jvanderbeken@sfchronicle.com.


http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 19NHSC.DTL

Interesting case, if the Judge votes in favor of the illegal a new and dangerous precident could be set.

This guy is unfortunate to have gotten mixed up with crack dealers if that indeed is the case. But it is also obvious, because he sold his home, that he made a premeditated effort to come to the US illegally. And how do we know that creative San Francisco lawyers are not just padding his case?

His attorneys will probably try to get him a green card because he has been victimized!

Oh please...spare me. I dont believe this guys story for one mexican second. "They made me do it." Right. I bet that isnt even his name. I have noticed this trend lately. Prostitutes in this country illegally always say they are being forced by someone. They dont have to say who the someone is. Now drug dealers are using this defense.

Illegal immigrant fights S.F. drug charge
By: Brent Begin
Examiner Staff Writer
September 25, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — The fate of a 23-year-old Honduran man who crossed the U.S. border illegally with the help of smugglers only to be arrested weeks later in a Tenderloin drug sting is now in the hands of a jury.

The case pits the issues of human trafficking versus illegal immigrants who commit crimes in San Francisco, a sanctuary city.

Police arrested Rigoberto Valle, 23, in an undercover “buy-bustâ€

Illegal immigrant guilty in drug charges despite trafficking claims
By: Brent Begin
September 25, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO — A San Francisco jury found a 23-year-old illegal immigrant guilty Friday of selling crack cocaine in the Tenderloin despite his claims that human traffickers forced him to do it.

The case pitted the issues of human trafficking versus illegal immigrants who commit crime in the sanctuary city of San Francisco. While it is common for illegal immigrants to claim they are blackmailed into a life of crime, the cases rarely go to trial.

After what jurors described as about seven hours of intense and at times heated deliberations, an applause came from the jury room as the decision was made.

Jury foreman Daniel Ludwinski said he was one of the last to hold out against finding Rigoberto Valle guilty, but in the end he just didn't believe the Honduran immigrant's story.

I had sympathy for him because at some point he was victimized, Ludwinski said. "It all came down to whether or not we could trust the defendant."

Police arrested Valle in an undercover “buy-bustâ€

Sell crack and lie

Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle, November 12, 2009

When we last looked into San Francisco's infamous "sell crack or die'' case, Rigoberto Valle had been convicted and appeared to have a ticket for deportation without serving any more time behind bars, thanks to a judge who sympathized with the Honduran immigrant's tale of being victimized by human traffickers.

Valle, 23, had indeed spun quite a tale from the stand in September, recounting a harrowing journey by rail from Honduras and by foot across the desert into the United States.

Valle said he had been forced on pain of death to sell crack on the streets of San Francisco to pay off his human-trafficking debt. He was caught after five minutes his first day on the job, he said. The jury didn't buy it and convicted him of felony drug-dealing charges.

Judge Teri Jackson, however, seemed convinced that Valle was indeed a victim of human trafficking, and indicated she would sentence him to time served and probation. At that point, the feds would take over and start deportation proceedings.

However, things have changed a bit since then. It turns out Valle has been arrested numerous times in the United States dating back several years, and had been deported at least five times before being arrested in San Francisco.

He first came to the United States in 2000, when he was 14, but was sent home for being here illegally. Two years later, he was back and was arrested for a string of tresspassing crimes in Denver. He was convicted of a drug offense there in 2004 and was deported.

In 2005, Valle was caught trying to get across the border in Arizona, jailed for two months and deported.

He was caught again in 2006, allegedly trying to deliver heroin in Portland. Even though that case was not resolved, he was deported in 2007.

He was caught again and deported from Arizona in December 2008.

It was only a few months later, in June, that he was caught in San Francisco, dealing crack. He has been jailed ever since.

On Thursday, after citing what she called a "shocking" effort to mislead the court, Jackson told Valle she intends to sentence him to one year in County Jail on top of the five months he has already served, and put him on five years' probation. She said that if he returns to the United States after being deported, he will face five years in state prison.

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