Thread: For Proclaiming His Innocence of a Brooklyn Rape, An Illegal

For Proclaiming His Innocence of a Brooklyn Rape, An Illegal Immigrant Faces Deportation

Sun, Aug 21, 2011
By John-Carlos Estrada
thebrooklynink.com

Giraldo is caught — unjustly, he says — by a federal program aimed at serious criminals and security risks

Early in the morning last June 4, William Giraldo stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts in Sunset Park for a coffee. Two days later, standing next to his fiancé, the 24-year-old car-service driver saw himself on the local newscast. It was a 20-second grainy video clip of Giraldo at the cash register of Dunkin’ Donuts, wearing a white t-shirt and white earphones.

Initially, he and his fiancée Sandra Alvarado, laughed at the sight of him on television. But after realizing that the New York Police Department was looking for him as the suspect in an attempted rape near the donut shop, Giraldo began to panic. While he was the man in the surveillance video, he had not committed the crime.

Yet as the result of coming forward voluntarily, the father of two now faces deportation — not for the crime but for his status as an illegal immigrant. He is due in court next month where a judge will make the decision whether he stays with his family in Brooklyn or returns back to Colombia.

“I did not do anything wrong,â€

Obama will pardon all his sins and give him free tuition to the school of his choice.