Task force nabs deported felon (Montrose Daily Press)

Task force nabs deported felon
By Katharhynn Heidelberg
Daily Press Senior Writer
Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, March 12, 2008 4:11 AM MDT

MONTROSE — An illegal immigrant with multiple convictions is off the streets, after local drug task force agents nabbed him at a traffic stop Friday.
Salomon Renteria-Valdez, 61, was wanted on a federal warrant alleging aggravated illegal re-entry into the United States, Seventh Judicial District Meth/Drug Task Force Agent Jim Fuller said.
“He was an aggravated deport out of Mexico. He was kind of living here under a false Social Security number, using one of his many aliases,” Fuller said. He said the suspect had been living in Montrose for about five years. Renteria-Valdez came onto the task force’s radar during the course of a narcotics investigation that Fuller said yielded information Renteria-Valdez was allegedly distributing cocaine.
There followed close to a month of follow-up investigation, during which the task force tracked down several aliases allegedly used by Renteria-Valdez and, through fingerprints, linked him to crimes in California.
According to an arrest affidavit provided by the U.S. Attorney’s office, Renteria-Valdez was first identified by a Montrose task force agent Jan. 24.
The agent recognized him as the same man who’d been arrested by the Montrose County Sheriff’s Office in 2001, on suspicion of being an intoxicated pedestrian. The FBI subsequently matched the fingerprints from his 2001 arrest to Renteria-Valdez’s lengthy criminal history and the warrant issued Feb. 26.
The affidavit showed Renteria-Valdez was convicted of alien smuggling in 1977 and was deported after completing his sentence in 1978. Within just months, the U.S. Border Patrol nabbed him in Chula Vista, Calif. for smuggling 25 illegals. He was convicted the following year of illegal entry and aiding and abetting. Renteria-Valdez again deported after completing that sentence.
He was arrested yet again in 1982, reportedly guiding three illegal immigrants across the border. Though convicted, the U.S. Attorney’s office could not find a record of deportation on that offense.
The affidavit said he was last deported in 1996 for an aggravated felony conviction.
The affidavit listed 1990 convictions on conspiracy to sell or transport a controlled substance and attempted second-degree robbery, for which he ultimately served five years in prison.
In 1996, he was convicted of possessing a controlled substance for sale. Additionally, the affidavit said, he was convicted in 1995 of “annoy/molest children” in California.
Fuller said one of Renteria-Valdez’s offenses in California involved the attempted purchase of 5 kilos of cocaine.
“He probably had at least a dozen aliases. He knew the game,” Fuller said.
Renteria-Valdez allegedly had about a quarter-ounce of cocaine on him when he was arrested Friday night. Agents from the task force, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and U.S. Attorney’s office did not find anything when they served a search warrant at his residence on West Lasalle Road.
“We didn’t think we would,” Fuller said. “He’s old-school.”
He characterized Renteria-Valdez as cooperative during the arrest. Renteria-Valdez was handed over to federal authorities in Grand Junction who are pursuing immigration charges. Local drug charges could also be filed and Fuller said the investigation is ongoing.
“He’s looking at a sentence, on the immigration charges alone, of about 20 years. He’s been in the game for quite some time,” Fuller said. “We’re glad to get him out of the community.”
Contact Katharhynn Heidelberg via e-mail at katharhynnh@montrosepress.com