Deportation trick lets illegals skip trial

[Mugu]

By Julie Manganis, Staff writer salemnews.com

SALEM — Some illegal immigrants facing serious criminal charges are avoiding prosecution — with the help of the government — thanks to what prosecutors say is a gaping hole in the state's bail law.

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Take the case of Carlos Enrique Lugo, also known as Albert Varga, who was charged with heroin trafficking on the North Shore. If convicted, he faced a mandatory minimum of 15 years in prison. A judge ordered him held on $50,000 bail, and he sat in Middleton Jail for several months.

Then, last November, a Dorchester woman walked into the jail with a bag of cash and posted Lugo's bail — even though Lugo was also wanted by immigration authorities for being in the country illegally, and would immediately be turned over to them. That's exactly what Lugo wanted, prosecutor Michael Patten told a judge earlier this year.

Once in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security, Lugo was brought before an immigration judge. He immediately waived his right to challenge his deportation and asked for immediate removal — something immigration officials were legally bound to carry out. A week after Lugo was sent back to the Dominican Republic, the woman who posted his bail showed up at Salem Superior Court looking for the $50,000 she had posted.

Complete article

[damntexdem]

1. LOL! The immigration hyteria strikes again!

Well, he wasn't a flight risk -- because he was turned right in to ICE.

At least bail would likely not be set for a murder indictment.