http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/ ... news-miami

ICE nets 20 arrests during 3-day operation

Sun-Sentinel.com
Posted July 28 2005, 6:13 PM EDT

MIAMI -- A 60-year-old man was convicted on four counts of lewd and lascivious assault on a child and three counts of sexual battery. He was one of 20 violent criminals arrested during a three-day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation.

Manuel Cesar Garcia, a Peruvian national, pleaded guilty to all charges in a Miami-Dade court on Feb. 8 of this year.

ICE has placed Garcia in administrative removal proceedings and is seeking the revocation of his lawful status. Garcia became a lawful permanent resident of the United States on Dec. 1, 1989.

Justo Mendieta, 23, a citizen of Nicaragua convicted on Jan. 2, 2004 for aggravated battery with great bodily harm and for possessing marijuana within 100 feet of a school, was also arrested.

Mendieta, who has been a lawful permanent resident since 2000, will have to appear before an immigration judge for possible removal from the country.

Those arrested represent 12 different countries including Nicaragua, Mexico, Peru, Honduras, Vietnam, Colombia, Cuba, Guatemala, Haiti, El Salvador, Bahamas and Jamaica. They had criminal histories ranging from drug possession and aggravated assault to drug trafficking and battery with a deadly weapon.