Plea bargaining continues


Vanessa Delgado, (Bio) vdelgado@greeleytribune.com
January 19, 2007


After the Weld District Attorney’s office signaled it would offer plea bargains to 18 former Swift workers taken during a raid at Swift & Co. last month, so far seven have waived their preliminary hearings and rescheduled depositions for mid-February.

Defense Attorney Brain Connors said it’s likely many of the detainees will opt for the deal offered by Weld District Attorney Ken Buck, and waiving the preliminary hearing leaves that option open.

The deal gives detainees the chance to leave voluntarily and possibly avoid prison. But in doing so, the person is also agreeing not to re-enter the United States.

If the person does come back, it would be a federal crime because he or she was deported due to criminal activity. The person could face an eight- to 10-year sentence in federal prison.

The remaining detainees who were offered plea bargains are scheduled to appear in court on various dates, including today, though early February.

If the workers don’t want to accept the deals, they can take their cases to trial. The workers are charged with identity theft, a class 4 felony. Others are charged with criminal impersonation, a class 5 felony.

Teodoro Pelico of Fort Morgan, who waited in court Thursday, said if his son chooses to go back to Guatemala voluntarily, his son’s wife and their two children will go as well. Since the raid, Pelico’s son, Hamilton Victor Pelico-Vicente, has only been able to contact his family by phone.

Pelico-Vicente, along with the other detainees, have not been able to post bond because Immigration and Customs Enforcement has no-bond holds on them in the Weld County Jail.

“My son is not a robber, he is just here to work,” Pelico said. “What people don’t understand is that we are coming from a country where there is no peace and all there is, is crime and no work.”

Pelico knows that the information his son was using was incorrect, and added the country should amend its immigration policies to make it possible for more people to work here legally.

“That is one of the injustices of this country,” Pelico said. “We come here in peace.”


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