Thread: Illegal Immigrant Suspects Arrested in Ohio County

Illegal Immigrant Suspects Arrested In Ohio County

Friday, December 5, 2008 – updated: 11:31 am EST December 5, 2008

Ohio County deputies arrested two illegal immigrant suspects after a routine traffic stop Thursday night.

Sheriff Tom Burgoyne said the two Guatemalan nationals couldn’t prove legal status in the state. He also said the driver, who was German, was evasive about where they had come from and where they were going.

Burgoyne said the driver told deputies he picked up the men in Atlanta to help with a work load. The men had no log book, which Burgoyne said is required.

The Guatemalan men were taken to the Northern Regional Jail, one of whom is wanted in Georgia for a drug violation. The driver was cited for speeding and sent to a local hotel.

About 130 illegal immigration suspects have been arrested since Burgoyne took office.

http://www.wtov9.com/news/18211735/deta ... u&psp=news

Illegals Arrested In Traffic Stop
POSTED: December 5, 2008

By GABE WELLS Staff Writer

WHEELING - One of two illegal immigrants arrested late Thursday in Wheeling was found to be wanted on a charge related to "dangerous drugs."

Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne said this morning he was disturbed to learn officials in Georgia didn't want the suspect all that much.

Santos Gomez-Matias, 25, and Gregorio Manuel, 22, both of Guatemala, Mexico, were arrested at 11:55 p.m. Thursday in a traffic stop near milepost 5 of Interstate 70 in Wheeling.

The sheriff said the driver of the tractor-trailer in which the suspected illegals were traveling was stopped for speeding before identification checks revealed the passengers were in the country illegally. The deputy also learned Gomez-Matias was wanted in DeKalb County, Ga., for "failure to appear in court on a dangerous drug charge," Burgoyne said.

The sheriff said officials in Dekalb County were told of Gomez-Matias' arrest, but they were not interested returning the suspect to their state.

"They wouldn't extradite," Burgoyne said. "The didn't want to spend the money to send someone and get him down there."

Yonathan Deutch Reef, 24, a resident of Houston, Texas, born in Germany, was the driver of the vehicle, according to the sheriff. Reef was cited for traveling 72 mph in the 55 mph zone, before being released. Burgoyne said Reef told deputies he picked up the suspected illegals in Atlanta, Ga., to help him with the cargo he was delivering.

The sheriff noted that the matter is still being investigated, and the tractor-trailer Reef was driving was ordered "out of service." Burgoyne said marijuana was found in that vehicle in a recent inspection in North Carolina, but he noted no illegal substances were found in the search that continued into early today. He said Ohio County investigators are working with the Drug Enforcement Administration on the case.

Gomez-Matias and Manuel were transported to the Northern Regional Jail. Information at the jail indicates the men are no longer being held there.

www.theintelligencer.net

Keep Up Good Work, Sheriff
By the News-Register
POSTED: December 8, 2008

We wouldn't blame Ohio County Sheriff Tom Burgoyne if he threw up his hands in disgust and decided that if no one else is interested in arresting illegal immigrants, he shouldn't be, either.

That probably is taking the situation a bit too far. After all, Burgoyne is supposed to uphold the law, regardless of whether others do their jobs. Fortunately, he has done just that concerning illegal immigrants.

At one time, Burgoyne couldn't even get the federal Immigration Control and Enforcement agency to take illegals arrested here seriously. That situation seems to have been brought under control.

But last week, a sheriff's deputy making a routine traffic stop apprehended two illegal immigrants. One of them is wanted in DeKalb County, Ga. for what Burgoyne described as "failure to appear in court on a dangerous drug charge."

Local authorities contacted their counterparts in Georgia - and received, in effect, a "so what?" response. Burgoyne said DeKalb County officials do not plan to extradite the suspect. "They didn't want to spend the money to send someone and get him down there," the sheriff explained.

We trust that would not happen here. A fugitive from justice in Ohio County, if accused of a major crime, would be extradited as quickly as police and prosecutors could make it happen, we believe.

Again, however, the fiasco must be frustrating to Burgoyne and his deputies.

We encourage them to remember that public opinion here in Ohio County has been behind them solidly whenever they apprehend illegal immigrants - whether they are fugitives or not.

It's too bad residents of some other areas are not as demanding - and supportive - of their law enforcement agencies.

www.theintelligencer.net