Thread: Transgender woman arrested by Border Patrol admitted to money scheme, has criminal re

Transgender woman arrested by Border Patrol admitted to money scheme, has criminal record

March 02, 2017


(REUTERS/ICE/Charles Reed/Handout via Reuters)

EL PASO, TEXAS – A transgender woman arrested by immigration agents while at a courthouse for a protective order hearing had admitted to a money order scheme weeks before, an affidavit shows.

Irvin Gonzalez, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico, was arrested on Feb. 9 in El Paso County Courthouse.

A criminal complaint with a supporting affidavit filed Tuesday by Border Patrol Agent Humberto Chavira states that Gonzalez admitted to the crime on Jan. 13, after she and her partner Mario De Avila were caught stealing mail from blue U.S. Post Office drop-off boxes.

According to the affidavit, the scheme consisted in taking money orders, washing the name off with transmission fluid, adding De Avila’s name and depositing the money into his bank account.

De Avila was arrested and charged with forgery.

A couple of weeks after the incident, El Paso Police Department Authorities alerted a Border Patrol agent of Gonzalez’s presence in the country — during a follow up interview she had openly admitted to cops that she was in the U.S. illegally. She had also volunteered that she had a protective order (against De Avila) hearing on Feb. 9.

Federal officials used that information to look up her hearing and showed up to the courthouse, the affidavit says.
The case got attention from Congressman Beto O’Rourke and El Paso County leaders, who expressed concern over the fact that she was arrested inside a courthouse.

The public defender representing Gonzalez filed a petition for her immediate release saying that a Border Patrol agent perjured himself because in a first version of the affidavit he wrote that the arrest happened outside the building. Security footage shows them escorting her out from the 10th floor of the courthouse.

Jail records show Gonzalez, who was charged with forgery on Feb. 15, remains in the El Paso County jail.

She was first arrested and voluntarily returned to Mexico on June 5, 2007. She was then deported again, twice in 2011, once in 2013, 2014, and 2016.
In 2011 she was sentenced to over a year in jail for crimes including domestic battery, illegal entry, and possession of stolen mail.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/02...al-record.html

By Ray Bogan Published March 28, 2017 FoxNews.com

EL PASO, TEXAS – The illegal immigrant who was arrested in February after seeking a protective order from her boyfriend pled guilty to illegal reentry Friday, according to an agreement with United States attorney Richard Durbin.

“In this case, removal from the United States is presumptively mandatory,” reads the agreement, a copy of which was obtained by KFOX.

A new hearing will be held on April 13th.

Interest in Irvin Gonzalez's case hit the national level nearly overnight when she was arrested on Feb. 9 while walking into a courthouse to get a protective order.

It prompted local and federal lawmakers to ask the question: Even if she is an illegal immigrant, is it appropriate to arrest someone when they’re walking out of a courthouse to get a protective order from an abusive boyfriend?

Lawmakers were also concerned about the fact that the affidavit didn’t appear to match what happened. The original affidavit said she was arrested outside the courthouse. But security footage emerged which appeared to show a federal agent confront her inside and escort her out.

An amended affidavit was filed on Feb. 28 stating that she was confronted and escorted in the building but arrested outside.

Gonzalez has a criminal history in the United States. She has been deported six times and spent over a year in jail for crimes including domestic battery, illegal entry, and possession of stolen mail. The criminal history may have been extended had it not been for her illegal entry arrest, authorities say.

On Jan. 13, during a police interrogation, she admitted to a money order washing scheme. Gonzalez told police she and her boyfriend stole money orders from mailboxes, washed the names off with transmission fluid, added her boyfriend’s name and deposited the money into his bank account.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/03/28...l-reentry.html