Thread: MD- Illegal immigrant gets 18 months in beating death

Your not going to believe this article ....
Beat homeless man to death with log
By HEATHER RAWLYK, Staff Writer


Published 07/02/11 An illegal immigrant who beat a man to death with a log during a fight at a Laurel homeless camp last winter was sentenced to 18 months in jail Thursday. Adalberto Tolledo-Rodriguez, 45, entered an Alford plea to voluntary manslaughter in the late November beating of 55-year-old Flavio Garcia in a wooded area across from the Laurel Park racetrack entrance. An Alford plea allows a defendant to maintain his innocence while admitting prosecutors have enough evidence to convict. It carries the consequences of a guilty plea.

Garcia's body was found about 400 feet from Route 198 at about 10:30 a.m. Nov. 28. A county police officer was patrolling the area when a man flagged him down on Route 198 and said there was a man in the woods with "his head busted open," Deputy State's Attorney William Roessler said. The officer walked into the woods and found a homeless camp, scattered with handmade tents and shelters. There, he found Garcia, his head covered in blood. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The medical examiner determined Garcia died from blunt force trauma, including two forceful blows to the head and one to the neck, dislocating his spinal column. He had gaping lacerations on his face and multiple fractures to his skull.

Like Garcia, many of the women and men at the camp were in the country illegally. Many didn't want to cooperate because they didn't want to be deported. Detective Jason DiPietro took food to the camp and two witnesses came forward.

Those witnesses told DiPietro they saw Garcia go to Laurel Plaza Liquors, at 9626 Fort Meade Road, to buy beer the night before his body was discovered. DiPietro got security video from the store, which showed Garcia exiting the business with beer at about 9:40 p.m. He was walking with another man, who was wearing a sweatshirt with lettering and black pants. The detective got a still photograph from the video and showed it to a man who was familiar with the homeless camp.

He identified the man as Tolledo-Rodriguez, an illegal immigrant nicknamed "The Deer."

Police served a search warrant on Tolledo-Rodriguez's apartment on Laurel Bowie Road. They found a sweatshirt with lettering and black jeans, matching the clothing worn by the man seen with Garcia in the surveillance footage, Roessler said. A forensic evidence expert tested the black jeans and found Garcia's blood on the denim.

Tolledo-Rodriguez was arrested on an outstanding warrant Dec. 3.

He at first admitted drinking with Garcia, but denied knowing anything about his death, Roessler said. After police told him Garcia's blood was found on his jeans, Tolledo-Rodriguez told his side of the story.

He said he was drinking with Garcia that night and the two went to sleep in a tent. He said Garcia tried to touch him on his genitals and he didn't want that.

Tolledo-Rodriguez said they got into a fight, which spilled outside the tent. He said Garcia picked up a log and threatened him. He picked up a log, struck Garcia three times and ran away.

Tolledo-Rodriguez was charged with second-degree murder and voluntary manslaughter.

His attorney, William Cooke, said his client came to the United States four years ago from Chiapas, Mexico and performed manual labor. He said Tolledo-Rodriguez left behind a wife and adult children. He lives a life of poverty and has no education or understanding of the justice system in the United States or Mexico. He said Tolledo-Rodriguez entered the Alford plea because he wanted to avoid the uncertainty of trial and was eager to get home to his family. In exchange for the plea, prosecutors dropped the second-degree murder charge.

Roessler showed crime-scene photographs of Garcia to Circuit Court Judge Paul A. Hackner. He said Garcia came to the United States from a rural area outside Mexico City in hopes to work and send money home to his family. He said Garcia's family lives in the kind of poverty most cannot imagine. They speak an indigenous dialect that prosecutors' contacts in Mexico City had trouble understanding. The family had no expectations from the case, only asking prosecutors if they would be compensated for Garcia's death, Roessler said.

Hackner sentenced Tolledo-Rodriguez to six years, the maximum under the guidelines for manslaughter, and suspended all but 18 months. Upon release, Tolledo-Rodriguez will be on probation for five years, which must be supervised if he remains in the United States. He must obey all laws, including immigration.

Here's the link to the story:

http://www.hometownannapolis.com/news/t ... death.html

"This is not Mexico!"

18 months what a joke.Wonder if he gets deported after he gets out or stays to kill again.

Has the United States of America sunk so low that some how this kind of trash is embraced and protected in this country? After a cursory read, I did not see any mention of deportation upon completion of sentence.

Have we hit bottom yet in this country?

I emailed this to Mrs. Bachmann, and my state reps. and used Nobueno's quote "Not one mention of deportation upon release!"

Originally Posted by stevetheroofer

I emailed this to Mrs. Bachmann, and my state reps. and used Nobueno's quote "Not one mention of deportation upon release!"

Thanks "roofer"