July 29, 2010

Whitfield County man sentenced to three years for illegal border re-entry
Lydia Senn


ROME — The family of a Whitfield County man facing possible deportation received some good news Wednesday in federal court in Rome.

Benjamin Casillas-Carrera pleaded guilty in May to illegally re-entering the U.S. after being deported to Mexico following a 2000 armed robbery. The defendant admitted coming back to the United States in 2008 and was arrested for multiple crimes in New York and Dalton, including criminal trespassing, giving a false name to police and criminal mischief.

Casillas was sentenced Wednesday to three years in prison and three years supervised release for illegally re-entering the U.S. But he wasn’t deported, and Judge Harold Murphy ordered him to serve time in Talladega, Ala., so his family can visit.

His attorney, Judy Flemming, said Casillas merely wanted to be with his family and support them “both financially and emotionally.â€