Thread: Immigrant's trial set in Gloucester wreck

Immigrant's trial set in Gloucester wreck
BY JON CAWLEY
757-247-4635
June 13, 2007, 12:06 PM EDT
GLOUCESTER -- A Mexican man charged in connection with a weekend crash that injured a state police trooper did not appear in court Wednesday morning but a trial date was set for him to answer a drunken driving charge in Gloucester.

Since Sunday, Alfonso Cedillo Maldonado, 29, has been held without bond in the Gloucester County jail on an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency detainer that accused him of being in the country illegally. In Gloucester, Maldonado is charged with driving under the influence and his trial has been scheduled for July 19.

A General District Court deputy clerk said Maldonado was not arraigned Wednesday because a trial date was set during a meeting with his Gloucester attorney Andrew Johnson. She did not know whether Johnson was appointed by the court or hired to represent Maldonado.

Maldonado was arrested Sunday after a Route 17 crash that involved state police Trooper Maxwell H. Williamson.

Williamson is recovering from minor shoulder, back and neck injuries and burns to his arms from a deployed airbag.

The wreck occurred as Willamson traveled southbound on Route 17 looking for a motorist that had been reported driving the wrong way on Gloucester's main artery. Williamson was hit nearly head-on as he came out of a curve in the road.

A state police official said Maldonado was ordered held without bond by the federal agency after investigators checked his identity against a national police database that turned up an alleged immigration violation.

An immigration department spokeswoman said deportation proceedings will begin against Maldonado after the Gloucester charges are resolved.
http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp ... ocal-final

GLOUCESTER -- The Mexican man detained in Gloucester on an immigration charge since he plowed into a state trooper will serve more than a year in jail for the drunken driving crash.

Through a Spanish-speaking interpreter, Alfonso Cedillo Maldonado, 29, pleaded not guilty in Gloucester General District Court Thursday to charges of driving under the influence and driving without a license.

The charges stemmed from a Route 17 crash that left a Virginia State Police trooper with back injuries and some minor arm burns from a discharged air bag.

After the hearing that included a showing of a crash video taken by a dashboard-mounted camera in the trooper's patrol car, General District Court Judge R. Bruce Long found Maldonado guilty of both charges.

Long then sentenced Maldonado to 12 months in Gloucester's jail and a $2,500 fine on the drunken driving charge.

He tacked on an additional six months in jail and $1,000 fine for driving without a license. Maldonado's driving privileges were also suspended for one year.

Gloucester attorney Andrew Johnson said he would appeal the sentences he described as the maximum allowed.

The conviction and sentencing followed a string of drunken driving cases heard in court Thursday morning - none of which compared to Maldonado's, Long said.

He characterized Maldonado's violation as "egregious as they come with the exception that no one was killed."

According to court testimony, Trooper Maxwell H. Williamson, was confronted by a car heading straight at him as he searched for a driver reported to be heading the wrong way on Route 17.

The trooper swerved his patrol car and was spun 180 degrees by the nearly head-on impact.

At Gloucester's Riverside Walter Reed Memorial Hospital, Maldonado was given a blood test that showed his blood alcohol level to be 0.26, said Virginia State Trooper Jess Hazelwood, who investigated the June 10 crash.

Under Virginia law, 0.08 is considered the threshold for being considered legally drunk.

A check of Maldonado's status in the National Crime Information Center database alerted the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency who ordered Maldonado held on an immigration violation.

At that time, an ICE spokeswoman said deportation proceedings would begin after the Gloucester charges were resolved.

ICE officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/mi ... s-local-mp