Man faces 4th deportation after Brewster arrest

BREWSTER - A Guatemalan man with multiple arrests who has been deported at least three times since 2002 after entering the country illegally was picked up again this week when Putnam sheriff's deputies found him squatting inside a vacant Park Street house, police said yesterday.

William D. Mejia, 31, is being held at the Putnam County jail on a federal immigration detainer after police charged him Tuesday with criminal trespass, a misdemeanor; and unlawful possession of marijuana, a violation, Sheriff Donald B. Smith said.

He could face deportation proceedings for a fourth time.

It wasn't until Mejia arrived at the jail that authorities there notified federal immigration officials and learned of his past. Smith said he was deported for the first time May 25, 2002, from an undisclosed location.

Mejia was deported a second time Oct. 18, 2007, after serving 15 days in the Putnam jail, convicted of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in Brewster. He was deported a third time Dec. 30, 2008, after being sentenced to 90 days and serving time in the Westchester County jail for an assault in Mount Kisco.

Smith said that immigration officials were checking whether Mejia, who police say may have used several aliases, may have been deported in early 2008 as well. Mejia also has a 2004 conviction for driving while ability impaired in Bedford.

He was arraigned before Southeast Justice Richard Vercollone on behalf of Brewster Village Court and is due in court at 5 p.m. Aug. 10. Vercollone set bail at $5,000 cash.

Smith said Mejia's case shows that the battle against illegal immigration must be fought on the federal level.

"This illustrates a simple and indisputable fact that without real action being taken at the national level of government to secure our nation's borders, these lawbreakers are merely being sent for a spin through a revolving door," he said.

link to this artcile
http://www.lohud.com/article/20090725/N ... 018/NEWS02