TX - Starr Co. Sheriff's Office Releases Inmate with Federal Detainer (update)
Posted: May 03, 2016 5:43 PM PDT
Updated: May 03, 2016 5:43 PM PDT
RIO GRANDE CITY — A man charged with smuggling a dangerous group of people across the border is free. He was released before federal authorities could bring their own charges.
Last week, five people crossed the border illegally, and a driver picked them up. The Starr County District Attorney’s Office said the group was connected to the Gulf Cartel.
The alleged driver of the group walked free from Starr County Jail, even though federal authorities wanted him in custody.
On Wednesday morning, Border Patrol and DPS troopers spotted men coming across on a raft. Then they jumped into a pickup truck.
Police said that truck was driven by Jose Raul Aldape Hernandez. DPS charged him with human smuggling.
The Starr County DA’s Office said Aldape Hernandez was in the country illegally. Immigration and Customs Enforcement wanted to take him into custody, so the agency placed a federal detainer against him.
“A detainer is a request from the Department of Homeland Security to any jail agency… asking them if they're going to release the individual, or if they're going to detain that individual for the Department of Homeland Security to pick them up,” said immigration attorney Anthony Matulewicz.
Instead, Aldape Hernandez was arrested Wednesday, saw a judge and was out by Thursday.
They have rights, so everyone's entitled to a bond,” said Leo Lopez, Rio Grande City Municipal Court judge. “We as magistrates, all we do is read them the rights, set bail and that's basically it."
Judge Lopez set Aldape Hernandez’s bond at $5,000.
Lopez said once a person goes before a judge, they go back into custody. Someone else has the last call to release.
“That is up to the jail, the county jail and the county sheriff, to put a detainer on the individual,” Lopez said.
The Starr County Sheriff responded to CHANNEL 5 NEWS’ request for comment with this statement:
“A detainer was given to jail personnel for Jose Raul Altape Hernandez, but was missed during the booking and releasing process…”
"It's a request; it's not a requirement. The local agency or the local entity does not have to comply with that,” immigration attorney Anthony Matulewicz said.
It is unknown where Aldape Hernandez is now. He gave no address when he got his bond.
The Starr County Sheriff’s Office said they’re taking action to ensure this kind of mistake won’t happen again.
http://www.krgv.com/story/31883333/s...deral-detainer
Man Accused of Smuggling Cartel Members in Custody
Posted: Jul 26, 2016 5:16 PM PDT
Updated: Jul 26, 2016 5:16 PM PDT
http://krgv.images.worldnow.com/images/11087190_G.jpg
RIO GRANDE CITY – A man accused of smuggling five cartel members across the river in April is back in custody.
Jose Raul Aldape-Hernandez disappeared, after he was released on bond from the Starr County Jail. He had an ICE detainer placed on him. He’s currently in federal custody.
Aldape is facing both federal and state charges. He went straight back to smuggling, after being arrested back in April. Prosecutors said if he’s let out again, he’ll keep doing the same thing.
The five people Aldape was transporting admitted to being high-ranking members of the Gulf Cartel. Shortly after, he was arraigned on a state smuggling charge. He disappeared in spite of a request from ICE to detain him.
“We later found out that there were some errors at the jail. Some procedures weren’t followed and the detainer somehow didn’t attach, so he had bonded out,” Starr County Assistant District Attorney Martie Garcia-Vela said.
She said authorities tried to find Aldape and get him back in custody. At his last known address, they found eight kilos of cocaine.
“We launched a separate investigation as to the state charges on the cocaine, and we continuously searching for Aldape,” Garcia-Vela said.
As of July 21, Aldape is back behind bars and in federal custody.
Border Patrol agents and Roma police saw him pass a stop sign heading north on Fresno Avenue in Roma. He was driving erratically, when he finally stopped near Business 83.
One of the Mexican citizens in the vehicle Aldape was driving told investigators he was charged $7,000 to cross in a raft along the river. The DA’s Office said that’s why Border Patrol and all the immigration laws can’t keep the smugglers from committing crimes. They make so much money doing it.
“History has shown that yes, they usually go back to what they’re used to doing,” Garcia-Vela said.
The Starr County assistant DA said Aldape likely knew he had a warrant for the drug charge and knew about the ICE detainer. She said that makes him dangerous.
“They get a name for themselves and the notoriety surrounds them that they’re the coyotes or the people to trust and getting across. And unfortunately some of these cases, they end up in chases that kill innocent people,” she said.
The DA’s office is glad Aldape will be charged in the federal system. However, they don’t expect it to stop his cycle of smuggling.
They said the original state smuggling charge Aldape was arraigned for will be forward to the federal case. The federal authorities can use it during sentencing to possibly get a greater punishment.
As for the cocaine charge, that’s a felony charge, it could get him five to 99 years in jail.
http://www.krgv.com/story/32544077/m...ers-in-custody
