Thread: Suspect in Mexico massacre spent 4 months in Calif. jail before being released due to

Suspect in Mexico massacre spent 4 months in Calif. jail before being released due to crowding

Published December 06, 2013
Associated Press

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  In this handout photo released by the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is Genaro Olaguez, who was arrested and sent back to Mexico on allegations that he killed eight government officials in Mexico. Olaquez was arrested in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2013, in connection with the May 2, 2000, murders of a commissioner and seven other city officials in Sinaloa, Mexico.(AP Photo/Sacramento County Sheriff's Department) (THE ASSOCIATED PRESS)
  

SACRAMENTO, CALIF. – A man wanted in the slayings of eight Mexican municipal government officials was held in a California jail for four months on drug charges, officials said, but overcrowding forced his release before authorities made a connection to the 13-year-old killings.

San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney Todd Turner, who is prosecuting the marijuana-growing case, said that he first learned that Genaro Olaguez was a suspect in the May 2000 slayings when he read a media account Thursday.

"These are such routine cases, it's a little surprising that it would be connected to something of that magnitude in Mexico," Turner said.

The suspect, whose last name is also listed as Olaguez-Rendon, was arrested by federal authorities this week in Sacramento on suspicion of killing a commissioner and seven other city officials in his native Sinaloa, Mexico. Four others were seriously injured in what the U.S. Marshals Service described as a massacre using heavy weapons.

Chrishna Martinez, a deputy public defender representing Olaguez, did not return telephone and email messages.

The Marshals Service had said incorrectly Wednesday that Olaguez was being immediately handed over to Mexican officials. But on Thursday, officials said they were debating how and when to return him to Mexico.

Olaguez, 53, was one of four people arrested in January in connection with four marijuana grow houses in Stockton, 50 miles south of Sacramento. Authorities found more than 900 marijuana plants and nearly 30 pounds of marijuana that was being prepared for sale, Turner said. They also found a gun, leading to a possible sentence enhancement, the prosecutor said.

Two of the other defendants in the marijuana-cultivation case are believed to be Olaguez's wife and his brother, Turner said.

Olaguez remained in San Joaquin County Jail until April, when he was released on his own recognizance because of jail overcrowding, Turner said. A warrant was issued for his arrest when he failed to show up for a court appearance April 22.

There was no effort to track Olaguez's whereabouts until a Sacramento-based law enforcement task force led by the Marshals Service found out in September that the Mexican government was seeking Olaguez in the slayings and he was living in the U.S.

The task force learned Tuesday that Olaguez was living with relatives in Sacramento and made the arrest, said Deputy U.S. Marshal Frank Newsom.

Olaguez's oldest son, Jair Olaguez, 18, told The Sacramento Bee he was confused by his father's capture.

"I think they got the wrong person," he told the paper. "He didn't kill no one."

Olaguez used a Spanish interpreter when he was arraigned in San Joaquin County on Thursday for failing to appear on the charges of marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale and theft of utilities. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail on the state charges while U.S. and Mexican authorities decide the next step.

Virginia Kice, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said Olaguez would be held for immigration authorities even if he posts bail. Federal authorities could obtain a warrant from Mexico and attempt to extradite Olaguez or seek to deport him administratively.

Kice said she didn't know Olaguez's immigration status.

Turner said there was no indication that Olaguez is in the U.S. illegally and he has a clean criminal record in the U.S. based on his fingerprints.

The Mexican Consulate in Sacramento did not comment despite repeated requests over two days. Olaguez is scheduled to return to court Dec. 19.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/12/06...eing-released/

Olaguez used a Spanish interpreter when he was arraigned in San Joaquin County on Thursday for failing to appear on the charges of marijuana cultivation, possession of marijuana for sale and theft of utilities. He was being held in lieu of $1 million bail on the state charges while U.S. and Mexican authorities decide the next step.

Ms Kice of Immigration and Customs doesn't know his immigration status? Perhaps Immigration and Customs should hire people that a bit more on the ball....

Mexican immigrant from Sacramento deported to Mexico on mass murder charges in Sinaloa

March 4, 2014
By Stephen Magagnini
The Sacramento Bee


U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Genaro Olaguez-Rendon is escorted by federal officials prior to his deportation to Mexico

A Mexican immigrant who fled to Sacramento after allegedly killing eight municipal officials in Sinaloa in 2000 was deported to Mexico Tuesday morning by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

Genaro Olaguez-Rendon, 54, was one of eight defendants charged with murder, aggravated assault and conspiracy in connection with the May 2, 2000 roadside massacre in the state of Sinaloa, headquarters of the powerful Sinaloa drug cartel. He admitted to authorities he had illegally entered the United States in 2001.

Olaguez-Rendon had begun a new life as a church-going landscaper and father of four who was renting a two-bedroom home in north Sacramento when he was arrested by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and members of the U.S. Marshal’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force last December.

“Working closely with our partners in the U.S. Marshal’s Service and our partners in Mexico and the The Office of the Mexican Attorney-General (PGR), we were able to establish that Mr. Olaguez-Rendon might be residing in the Sacramento area, locate him and arrest in 2013,” said Mike Vaughn, Assistant Field Office Director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations in Sacramento. “We also discovered he was wanted in San Joaquin County for possession, sale and cultivation of marijuana and conspiracy to commit a crime.”

Olaguez-Rendon was first arrested in San Joaquin County last year on the marijuana charges, which involved four grow houses and hundreds of plants, along with gun charges and theft of electricity, according to published reports. He was released from jail while awaiting trial because of overcrowding, San Joaquin County officials said, adding they knew nothing about him being wanted in connection with the Sinaloa massacre.

After his arrest last December by federal officials, Olaguez-Rendon was returned to San Joaquin County, where he was convicted, sentenced to 365 days in jail and then turned over to ICE on Feb. 21. He was then held in the Sacramento County Jail and placed in removal proceedings based on his aggravated felony conviction and illegal status, Vaughn said. Olaguez-Rendon allegedly gunned down his eight victims in Sinaloa and seriously wounded several others with assault-style weapons. He was turned over to Mexican officials at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Since Oct. 1st 2009, “ICE has removed more than 720 foreign fugitives sought in their native countries for crimes such as kidnapping, rape and murder,” Vaughn said.

“People who commit crimes in other countries shouldn’t think they can escape justice by fleeing to the United States – this is is not a refuge,” said ICE spokeswoman Lori K. Haley.

Carlos González Gutiérrez, the Cónsul General of México in Sacramento, said “this is definitely great news. The fight against organized crime is a transnational challenge, and this case shows how collaboration is key for the success of these efforts.”

http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/04/620...acramento.html

Originally Posted by Jean

Olaguez-Rendon had begun a new life as a church-going landscaper and father of four who was renting a two-bedroom home in north Sacramento when he was arrested by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and members of the U.S. Marshal’s Pacific Southwest Regional Fugitive Task Force last December.

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And he already had social security numbers for each of his anchor babies, including credit cards.