Below is the article written by Patrick Wilson for the Winston-Salem Journal about the story ALIPAC broke LAST NIGHT! It can be found at www.journalnow.com

Man charged with rape was deported twice
By Patrick Wilson
JOURNAL REPORTER
Wednesday, November 9, 2005


A Winston-Salem man charged in connection with a series of rapes in Winston-Salem and Greensboro had been deported to Mexico twice, but he returned to the United States, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said yesterday.

Gilberto Cruz-Hernandez, 24, is being held in the Forsyth County Jail with bond set at $2 million. Immigration agents have a detainer on him, which is a legal device used to hold someone accused of breaking immigration laws.

He will be deported again if he is released after serving any sentence he receives for the criminal charges, which include five counts of rape, one count of attempted rape, one count of sexual offense and related burglary charges.

Police arrested Cruz-Hernandez in Winston-Salem on Oct. 28 after DNA evidence tested at the state's crime labs linked him to a series of rapes that happened in February in Winston-Salem, a police statement said. A few days later, he was charged in connection with three sexual-assault cases that occurred in Greensboro in May 2004 and January and February 2005.

In most of the cases, the attacker's face was covered, and he threatened women with a gun as he attacked them in their apartments and houses, investigators said.

Cruz-Hernandez was arrested by federal immigration agents in Greenwood, S.C., in April 1997 and deported to Mexico, ICE said. He was arrested again by border-patrol agents in Douglas, Ariz., in October 2002 and again deported to Mexico.

In Winston-Salem, Cruz-Hernandez was living at 385 Camden Ridge Drive.

Tax records show that he and a woman have owned that house since February 2004.

• Patrick Wilson can be reached at 727-7286 or at pwilson@wsjournal.com

• Journal reporter Dan Galindo contributed to this report.