Thread: Illegal Aliens Stopped On Interstate 70

http://www.theintelligencer.net/news/ar ... leID=10191

Illegal Aliens Stopped On Interstate 70

By MICHELLE BLUM



Federal officials were expected to take two allegedly illegal immigrants into custody after they were found speeding on Interstate 70 Saturday evening, Wheeling police reported.

Fredy Leonel Sandoval Garcia, 28, and Juan Antonio Ortiz, 31, were taken into custody by officers working extra duty under a speed enforcement grant.

Officers on Interstate 70 eastbound near exit 2B were running stationary radar when they spotted a Dodge Caravan traveling at 70 mph in a 55-mph zone.

When the vehicle was stopped, Garcia handed over a Guatemalan driver’s license and said he had no other form of identification. Ortiz, the passenger, handed over a Mexican driver’s license bearing the name of Alebro Juarez Hidez. Reports did not indicate whether the name on the license was an alias or belonged to another individual.

Ortiz was unable to speak English, while Garcia could speak broken English, officers noted.

When asked if he was in the United States illegally, Garcia did not respond. But when asked whether he completed paperwork to be in the country, he said he had. Garcia also said Ortiz was in the United States legally, police reported.

However, when they were separated, Garcia said he and Ortiz sneaked across the border from Mexico. Police reports did not indicate where they entered the country.

Garcia said he had known Ortiz for many years, since both lived in Guatemala.

Garcia further said he and Ortiz had been in the United States for three days and his boss was trying to get him a green card.

The van was towed from the scene by Braden’s Towing as Ortiz and Garcia were taken into custody. Officers found $755 in cash on Ortiz and $78 on Garcia.

Officers contacted the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service in Pittsburgh, which ordered Ortiz and Garcia detained.

They were taken to the Northern Regional Jail pending pick up by federal officials, police noted.

Section: News Posted: 9/4/2006

Will they hold them or release them with a citation to show up for a hearing

Garcia further said he and Ortiz had been in the United States for three days

In three days, they have a van and a pocketful of cash?????