Thread: Smuggling conspiracy cases a bust for Arizona so far

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/local/23369.php

Published: 08.21.2006
Smuggling conspiracy cases a bust for Arizona so far
The Arizona Republic

A year ago, Maricopa County Attorney Andrew Thomas theorized he could prosecute illegal immigrants who paid to be smuggled into the United States through Arizona.

He could do so, he felt, by applying conspiracy statutes to the state's new human-smuggling law. Paying a human smuggler, or "coyote," would mean conspiring with him.

Despite protests from defense attorneys and Hispanic advocacy groups, the theory held up in court. But after 263 arrests and 121 convictions under what has come to be known as the coyote law, no one has been convicted of conspiracy to commit human smuggling. No jury has even entertained the charge.

Whether a jury will convict on the charge remains to be seen.
Two men went to trial on conspiracy charges in July, but they were acquitted by the judge before the jury had a chance to weigh in.

The rest of the so-called conspirators had charges dropped or pleaded guilty to a lesser offense to get out of jail. Another 65 defendants still await trial.

Another trial was supposed to start last week, but at the last minute, the County Attorney's Office veered away from trial and offered the defendants what one attorney called "smokin' deals."

A jury did convict one man of human smuggling, a would-be landscaper who had been offered a discounted fee to be smuggled into the country if he would take the wheel of a van for a couple of hours. He was sentenced to probation and returned to Mexico.

"I would hope and trust that if we convict a classic coyote, somebody who is intimately involved in this and profiting substantially from the human-smuggling trade, that he will get more than just probation after being convicted," Thomas said.

The two men who went to trial for conspiracy were acquitted because Superior Court Judge Thomas O'Toole ruled there was insufficient evidence for the case to continue.

Five more conspiracy suspects, arrested at the same time as the first two, were slated to start trial Thursday. They were to be tried on the same evidence with essentially the same facts and the same witnesses.

Prosecutors massaged the case and petitioned the judge to rule on whether there was sufficient evidence before the trial started. Last week, O'Toole agreed there was.

Then, the day before trial, all but one defendant who has already been deported were allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanors.

"The reason was, we had to offer them misdemeanors in order to get them to agree to set up the evidentiary hearing that resulted in a favorable ruling by Judge O'Toole," Thomas said.

Joey Hamby, a defense attorney representing one of the last defendants, had another explanation: The county attorney was afraid of losing again.

"Probably where they were most concerned is that this would come out and look like a total political black eye," he said.

There was no news conference to announce the pleas, in marked contrast to the political uproar at the outset of the trial: the protests, the news conferences, the squabble between the county sheriff and federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

As the trial and the plea agreements went forward, another controversy unfolded: what to do with the illegal immigrants once the legal system finished with them.

When two men acquitted of conspiracy were to be released, the Sheriff's Office called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transport them back to Mexico and were told "no."

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was flabbergasted. He learned that as many as 17 defendants, many of whom had been convicted of felonies, had walked right out of the jail because there were no orders to hold them for ICE pickup.

Arpaio started having his deputies transport them to Yuma and Casa Grande to turn them over to U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Since July 11, deputies have made 19 trips transporting 53 inmates to rendezvous with the Border Patrol.

Not all of them have made it home. According to their attorneys, the two men who were acquitted are still in federal custody awaiting deportation proceedings, while Ruiz Lopez, the convicted coyote, made it home to his family in Mexico on the day he was sentenced to probation and ordered to leave the country.

Shortly after the trial, O'Toole ordered that the remaining defendants be released from jail on their own recognizance. They showed up for all their court appearances. And when they signed their misdemeanor plea agreements, they walked out of the courthouse on their own.

The next conspiracy cases go to trial in September. Prosecutors, investigators and defense attorneys all feel ready.

"Our cases are only going to get stronger from here. Our office, working with the Sheriff's Office, has tightened the procedures for processing the cases," Thomas said. "At this point, frankly, I think that we are set up to finally obtain convictions in these cases."

The defense is gearing up as well.

"We have more ammunition on our side also," said Corwin Townsend, one of the attorneys who won acquittal for his client. He has another client facing trial. "Everyone sees that these cases are winnable."

When two men acquitted of conspiracy were to be released, the Sheriff's Office called U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to transport them back to Mexico and were told "no."

Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio was flabbergasted. He learned that as many as 17 defendants, many of whom had been convicted of felonies, had walked right out of the jail because there were no orders to hold them for ICE pickup.

This crape is happening all over the country and its got to stop!! NO MORE CATCH & RELEASE!

Judge Thomas O'Toole, fitting lastname because you ARE a tool!