DA also wants immigrant's bail revoked.
By Riley Yates | Of The Morning Call
February 19, 2009
A Mexican immigrant's sixth drunken-driving arrest was too many for Northampton County District Attorney John Morganelli, who said Wednesday he is seeking to have the man's bail revoked and urging federal authorities to deport him.

Guadalupe N. Vasquez had already racked up five priors when he was arrested Aug. 10 after hitting a car at an Easton Wawa, Morganelli said. He had a 0.23 percent blood alcohol level, nearly three times the legal limit.

Though Morganelli labeled Vasquez, 43, of 218 W. Kleinhans St. in Easton, an illegal immigrant, the district attorney said he married a U.S. citizen and was issued valid alien registration and Social Security numbers in 2003.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement wouldn't comment on Vasquez's immigration status, but said there are no detainers on him.



''It's too early to tell if we can bring proceedings against him,'' said spokesman Mark Medvesky. ''We're going to work with the DA's office.''

Vasquez was charged in 2001 with violating federal immigration laws, according to Morganelli, in a case he said has an unknown result. Vasquez's drunken-driving convictions, some of which were under his many aliases, occurred in 1993, 1994, 1996, 2001 and 2007. The heftiest sentence was one to two years in prison.

He also has a conviction in early 2003 for giving an Easton manufacturer false identification papers.

Vasquez is free on $10,000 bail in his latest case, which includes a cocaine possession charge. A hearing on Morganelli's request for higher bail is slated Monday.

A friend of Vasquez said he has lived in the United States for nearly two decades and has no family remaining in Mexico.

Arturo Dominguez of Easton said Vasquez is separated from his wife. He said Vasquez is in the country legally and has his own Social Security card and driver's license.

Vasquez works mostly in landscaping and recently found a job in a factory after being on unemployment for a while, said Dominguez, whose girlfriend helped post Vasquez's bail.

''The time that I know him, I've never had a complaint, nothing,'' Dominguez said.

If convicted of the latest drunken-driving charge, Vasquez would face a mandatory one year in prison and maximum of five years.

riley.yates@mcall.com

610-559-2109

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