Herald-Citizen Staff
Friday, Mar 27, 2009
LIVINGSTON -- Six Hispanic men who were caught with 13 bags of crystal meth in Livingston earlier this year are about to be deported, officials said.

The six went to Criminal Court in Livingston earlier this week and, with the help of court-appointed attorneys to represent them and translators to make sure they understood the proceedings, pleaded guilty to "attempted possession of methamphetamine" in exchange for six month jail sentences, suspended to time served and with the understanding that they are now being turned over to federal authorities for deportation.

The six were arrested in the parking lot of a grocery store in Livingston on Jan. 30 after an investigation that began when someone called police and reported a "suspicious and reckless" driver in the area.

Livingston Police officers found the driver, Julio Tores Perez, had no driver's license, and also found that Perez and five others in the vehicle -- Baltazar S. Ylvestre, Joel Delez Israel, Roberto Andres Perez, Andres Solis Sanchez, and Juan Felipe Hernandez -- were all in this country illegally. Reportedly, they are natives of Guatemala and had been in Kentucky before turning up in Livingston.

In the vehicle, the officers found bags of crystal meth. They charged all six with possession of meth with intent to deliver. The six were booked into the Overton County jail and have been there since their arrests.

Livingston Police Chief Greg Etheredge, who said it was one of the largest crystal meth cases he had seen at one time, also contacted the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency about the case.

Assistant District Attorney Owen Burnett said the ICE agents who worked the case were very thorough. He said ICE agents are expected to arrive in Livingston this week to take custody of the men and begin the formal deportation proceedings against the six men.

"In fact, we have had excellent help from ICE in several cases over the last few years," Burnett said.

"Their work and the great work of the Livingston Police and the Overton Sheriff's Department have achieved deportation of several dozen illegal alien criminals over the last few years."

Burnett also said, "Taxpaying American citizens do not deserve the presence of illegal alien criminals in their communities."

Judge David Patterson accepted the guilty pleas in the case.



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