Thread: Illegal immigrant sent to prison for attack on woman

http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=26371

Illegal immigrant sent to prison for attack on woman
By LILA FUJIMOTO, Staff Writer

WAILUKU – When a man grabbed and dragged a woman as she walked on a Lahaina street, her “worst nightmare” came true, a deputy prosecutor said.

“She can no longer walk on the streets, whether it’s daytime or nighttime, without looking over her shoulder,” said Deputy Prosecutor Robert Rivera. “Her entire life has changed because of the actions of a person who’s illegal, who’s intoxicated and who intended to cause her harm.”

On Wednesday, Jorge Alberto Lobos-Aquil was sentenced to a 10-year prison term for abducting the woman on June 25 while she was walking on Front Street.

Lobos-Aquil, a 28-year-old native of Guatemala, had pleaded no contest to kidnapping and first-degree forgery for fake immigration documents he had when he was arrested. The prosecution dismissed a charge of attempted first-degree sexual assault in exchange for his pleas.

Deputy Public Defender William “Pili” McGrath said the sexual assault charge was dismissed because of a “misinterpretation” of what the Spanish-speaking Lobos-Aquil told police after his arrest.

“Jorge understands the seriousness of what happened,” McGrath said. “He appears to have come to the United States to work, rather than, say, sell drugs.”

He was arrested after police responded to a call from a 39-year-old Lahaina woman who was walking south on Front Street at about 8:20 p.m. when she was stopped by a man riding a bicycle who asked for directions in Spanish. She answered before continuing to walk down the street.

The woman said she walked past a white van parked on the mauka side of the 400 block of the street when someone grabbed her neck from behind. She said the man tried to drag her behind the van before she started screaming and was thrown to the ground.

She was able to fight off Lobos-Aquil until her screams attracted the attention of others, Rivera said.

He said the woman’s head was split open and she required stitches for the injury.

Police arrested Lobos-Aquil nearby. He had a fake immigration card with another name, police said.

Although the sexual assault charge was dismissed, Rivera said that Lobos-Aquil’s intentions with the victim were clear. None of her belongings were taken, Rivera said.

“This was not a robbery, this was not a mugging,” he said. “So what conclusion can people draw, except that he intended to assault her sexually?”

Lobos-Aquil’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.218 percent, nearly three times the 0.08 percent standard for a drunken-driving charge, Rivera said.

In court Wednesday, Lobos-Aquil apologized through a Spanish interpreter.

In a letter to the court that was written in Spanish and translated by the interpreter, he asked for forgiveness from the victim. Lobos-Aquil also said he illegally entered the United States to help his wife and two daughters, ages 4 and 7?, in Guatemala.

“We are very poor people and in my country, there’s not very much money,” he said in the letter. “This is the first time I have had problems here in Maui with the police.”

Second Circuit Judge Joel August noted that Lobos-Aquil reported arriving on Maui on May 10 or 12, shortly before his June 25 arrest.

“Here we have someone who commits a very serious offense and a very violent assault within six weeks of his arrival,” August said. “It demonstrates that he had little concern for the long-term implications of his being here in the country. It also demonstrates he had little concern for the welfare of this particular individual.”

Lobos-Aquil was ordered to pay $252 in restitution.

Because he is being held on an immigration detainer, Lobos-Aquil faces deportation once he is released from prison, attorneys said.

In an unrelated case on Wednesday, August ordered a 15-day jail term as part of five years’ probation for Bruce C. Ortiz, who was found guilty of unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

The 21-year-old Wailuku resident was arrested shortly after 5 a.m. July 29 after he entered a delivery van at Paradise Beverages in Wailuku in search of beer, police said.

“This is an impractical way to get beer,” McGrath said.

Ortiz was intoxicated at the time, said Deputy Prosecutor Marie Kosegarten.

In court, Ortiz said he was working and asked not to be sent to jail.

“I think I deserve a chance,” he said. “I’m going to church. I changed my life around.”

Because of a conviction for unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle in 2003 when he was a juvenile, Ortiz wasn’t eligible for a chance too keep the current conviction off his record, August said.

As part of Ortiz’s probation, he was ordered not to use illegal drugs or alcohol. “That means no beer, whether it be 5 o’clock in the morning or any other time,” August said.

Lila Fujimoto can be reached at lfujimoto@mauinews.com.

He should be prosecuted for illegally crossing the border as well. And how did he support himself? Did he use a false social security number? Get him for that as well.


Can we at least fully prosecute just one illegal?