Thread: Mistakenly Released - Suspected Illegal Alien

Suspected illegal alien mistakenly released on bond
Friday, October 05, 2007

By Ryan Harris
Staff Writer

DALTON, Ga. -- A suspected illegal alien arrested on child pornography charges was mistakenly freed on bond, a federal immigration official said Thursday.

"That is one of the ones that fell through the cracks, unfortunately," said Steve Peluso, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"It's never a perfect system and this exemplifies it."

Juan Carlos Ruiz-Pineda, 27, was arrested Sept. 28 after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation obtained a warrant to search his Dalton apartment, officials said. He was released the next day on $25,000 bond, records show.

Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood said personnel contacted the U.S. Department of Homeland Security when Mr. Ruiz-Pineda was booked, and the notification was documented.

An "illegal alien query" form provided by the Whitfield County Sheriff's Department indicated that federal agents did not request that Mr. Ruiz-Pineda be held for turnover to federal custody.

"We did what we were supposed to do," Sheriff Chitwood said, citing the Georgia law that requires checks on felons suspected of being in the country illegally.

Agent Peluso said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency was not notified that Mr. Ruiz-Pineda was a suspected illegal alien until after he was released. He said he doesn't know how the mistake was made.

"You hate to point fingers," Agent Peluso said. "There was a mistake made somewhere. But at this point and time I don't know where it was (made)."

He said federal officers are actively seeking information on Mr. Ruiz-Pineda, but added he is "not very optimistic" that Mr. Ruiz-Pineda will be apprehended.

Jerry Scott, the assistant GBI agent in charge of the Calhoun, Ga., office, said the child pornography investigation began after Mr. Ruiz-Pineda was detected online of transmitting suspected child pornography.

Agent Scott said the investigation is continuing and more charges could be pending.

"We seized quite a bit of material," he said. "Not necessarily all of it has been determined to be child pornography. We'll have to review the items seized and see if any additional charges will be filed."

E-mail Ryan Harris at rharris@timesfreepress.com

http://www.timesfreepress.com/absoluten ... &zoneid=77

gone.. never see the guy again.. at least with that alias..

Well, maybe he headed for the border never to be seen again. One can only hope.