Seeking forgiveness, Guatemalan awaits his fate in Incline (Nevada Appeal)

Seeking forgiveness, Guatemalan awaits his fate in Incline

By Kyle Magin
Bonanza Staff Writer
April 23, 2008, 6:01 AM

Antonio Sandoval-Perez said he knows what he did wrong. He understands the same crime he was arrested for March 18 in Incline Village, driving under the influence, is what the man who crippled his cousin Rudy Diaz and killed Diaz’s girlfriend is charged with.

Sandoval-Perez, an illegal immigrant, understands he put his family — 3-year-old son Dylan, wife Carolina and Diaz, who he now cares for — in jeopardy when he was arrested for DUI. They rely on the money he brings into the home to survive, as do his two children and other family living in his native Guatemala.

He worried that he would never see any of them again when he was detained in Florence, Ariz. by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency because he is an illegal immigrant who committed a crime. He thought he would be deported, sent back to Guatemala on a plane without a chance to see Dylan and Carolina.

“I didn’t know when I would see my wife, my family and my niño,” Sandoval-Perez said through interpreter Sylvia Doignon. “Niño” is a reference to Dylan, an American citizen by birth.

Sandoval-Perez’s journey through the American justice system began after his arrest. A friend, Incline resident Chuck Meyer, came to bail Sandoval-Perez out at the Washoe County detention facility in Reno. Sandoval-Perez was excited to get out of detention and shocked when agents from ICE told him Meyer’s bail wouldn’t get him home.

“They didn’t tell me my rights,” Sandoval-Perez said. “They stayed with me in a room and tried to get me to sign deportation papers.”

He refused to sign the papers — a smart choice, Meyer said — and was then sent to Arizona for holding, where he spent just less than a month.

Sandoval-Perez said he thought about his crime while in detention and the people he affected by committing it, and hopes for forgiveness.

Sandoval-Perez was released from Florence, Ariz. Friday after an immigration judge granted him bail in the amount of $4,500. The release let him return to Incline, to see his family and appear in the Incline Village Justice Court Tuesday to face up to his DUI punishment.

Sandoval-Perez appeared in the Justice Court Tuesday morning, where he stood in front of Judge Alan Tiras to face his DUI sentencing. Meyer, who accompanied Sandoval-Perez, said his friend was sentenced to 40 hours of community service, a fine, DUI level one school and watched a DUI victim impact panel.

Meyer said Sandoval-Perez plans to complete his community service at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church in Incline since the church has a fund open for the Sandoval-Perez family.

He said his reunion with Dylan was a very happy one. His son gave him a hug as soon as the two saw each other. Sandoval-Perez said he would phone home every other day, and Dylan would ask him each time when he was coming home.

Detention in Florence, Ariz. was unhappy, Sandoval-Perez said, being away from his family and living in a large, open area with a bed to sleep on. The bed was very small, “muy pequeno,” in his words, while he gestures inward with his hands to indicate the diminutive size.

He said the lights were on all the time at the facility, day and night, and he had an hour each day to spend time outside before he was herded back in with 100 other detainees. Messages were relayed to him from an answering machine, which staff at the facility would listen to and record on a piece of paper to give to him.

Meyer stayed in contact with him while in detention. He arranged lawyers for Sandoval-Perez’s bond hearing, paid his bail and made his Guatemalan friend promise him something.

“I told Antonio to promise me he would work hard to be a better person when he got out,” Meyer, who is Dylan’s godfather, said. “I made him promise not to drive, to pay his taxes and work hard to learn more English.”

Sandoval-Perez agreed to the conditions, saying it was his responsibility to a friend who helped him through such a tough time.

“I thought I would be sent to Guatemala straight from Arizona without seeing my family again,” Sandoval-Perez said. “I felt very sad for Chuck, he helped me so much. I don’t have the words to thank him for helping me. It was hard to think I would leave without having the chance to say goodbye.”

But, Sandoval-Perez was able to come home, for which he says he is thankful. Now his fight is with his deportation hearing, which will be held with a Reno-based immigration judge. A trial date has yet to be set.

Meyer isn’t overly optimistic about Sandoval-Perez’s chances, he’s heard from people familiar with deportations that an illegal immigrant has the deck stacked against them.

James Kelly, a Reno-based immigration lawyer, said few cases end with the illegal immigrant not getting deported when the crime is as serious as a DUI.

Meyer and Sandoval-Perez plan to make their case in front of an immigration judge for Antonio to stay. They fight because of the life that awaits Sandoval-Perez back in his hometown of San Lorenzo, Guatemala if he loses his trial.

“There is no work, no money,” Sandoval-Perez said. “I want Dylan to grow up here so he can get an education and learn English.”

Sandoval-Perez said most of his family is poor, working on cattle ranches if they are employed. He made it through the sixth grade, his brothers through the third, and he fears Dylan couldn’t receive the education offered in Incline.

“I want him to have a good education, to get a degree and have a career,” Sandoval-Perez said.

He also worries for his extended family, including two children in Guatemala, a 13-year-old boy and a 10-year-old girl. He said he sends back money for his children to have food and go to school, and without his American cash flowing back to Guatemala, they would suffer as well.

“I am just going to tell the judge that I will work my best to be a good person,” Sandoval-Perez said of his defense.

If in his deportation hearing it looks as though Sandoval-Perez will be sent away, he said he would voluntarily return to Guatemala with Carolina, Dylan and Diaz.

“I want to stay in America because there are jobs here and opportunities for my family,” Sandoval-Perez said.