Chase Co. arrest leads to immigration charges (The Emporia Gazette)

Chase Co. arrest leads to immigration charges
By Bobbi Mlynar
Thursday, August 20, 2009

A man held by the Chase County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of bringing illegal aliens to the United States from Mexico has been indicted in federal court.

According to an announcement from Jim Cross of the U.S. Attorney’s office, Jorge Elizalde-Juarez, 23, is charged with knowingly transporting undocumented aliens from Mexico.

Elizalde-Juarez, a citizen of Mexico, was arrested in Chase County while he was driving a 1997 Ford Expedition carrying 14 undocumented aliens.

He also is charged with one count of unlawfully re-entering the United States after being deported, four counts of aggravated identity theft, one count of making a false statement to the U.S. government and one count of producing a false identification document. The crimes are alleged to have occurred during 2007 and 2009 in Chase County, Cross said in a news release.

Chase County Sheriff Richard Dorneker said that one of his officers was on patrol around Milepost 327 on U.S. Highway 50 at Strong City in a 45 miles-per-hour zone when he came upon the SUV loaded with people.

“I think he was just starting to check into and do a motorist assist,” Dorneker said.

Chase County contacted Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Chase County currently has a contract to hold illegal aliens … until they’re processed and deported,” Dorneker said. “And normally on a deal like that, if ICE wants to put a hold on them, then we’ll put a hold.”

Dorneker said that U.S. 50 was a popular route for people bringing in undocumented workers.

“Actually Highway 50 is a very well-traveled highway for that type of thing,” Dorneker said.

The highway runs from coast to coast across the midlands and is a two-lane road that has no fee or toll booths that might cause others to become suspicious of a vehicle heavily loaded with passengers.

“Whereas on a turnpike, you’ve got to go through the (interchange), pay your toll,” Dorneker said.

Cross said that Elizalde-Juarez faces a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the charge of transporting illegal aliens. Aggravated identity theft holds a mandatory two-year sentence to run consecutively to other sentences, and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.

Making a false statement to the U.S. government could bring a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison without parole and a fine up to $250,000. Producing a false identification carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years without parole and a fine up to $250,000 on each count.

Elizalde-Juarez also could be sentenced to a maximum of two years in prison and a fine up to $250,000 on the unlawful re-entry after deportation charge.

“There’s a very lengthy process on the deportation process,” Dorneker said, “and after they are actually deported, there’s nothing saying that they can’t make their way back across.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson is prosecutor for the case.