Illegal immigrant charged, released on bail (Standard-Speaker)

Illegal immigrant charged, released on bail
By JILL WHALEN (Staff Writer)
Published: September 2, 2009

The illegal immigrant who Beaver Meadows police learned had been using a fake driver's license and Social Security number when his vehicle was stopped in July is free on bail.

Ambrosio Perez-Vasquez, 41, Hazleton, was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Joseph Homanko, Weatherly, on Wednesday on new charges stemming from the alleged July 13 incident.

Although Perez-Vasquez's attorney asked that her client be freed on unsecured bail, Homanko set it at $5,000. Perez-Vasquez, who turned himself in on an arrest warrant issued Aug. 27 by Beaver Meadows Police Chief Michael Morresi, was able to post the required 10 percent.

During the arraignment, Homanko read the charges as a court-appointed translator interpreted them into Spanish for Perez-Vasquez.

The charges filed by Morresi include one count each of unsworn falsification to authorities and false identification to law enforcement officers, and three counts of tampering with public records or information. All are misdemeanor charges. Morresi also charged him with driving without a license and speeding, both summary offenses.

The charges stem from a 1:50 p.m. incident when Morresi stopped a speeding truck driven by Perez-Vasquez on Main Street in Beaver Meadows. Perez-Vasquez provided Morresi with a Pennsylvania driver's license identifying himself as Luis K. Rivera-Rivera, 26, of 550 Alter St., Hazleton. The license, along with Perez-Vasquez's vehicle insurance and Social Security card, were valid, but when Morresi contacted U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement he learned Perez-Vasquez's real identity and that he was living in the United States illegally for a decade.

Morresi was directed by ICE to transport Perez-Vasquez to the Carbon County Correctional Facility until agents could pick him up for deportation to Mexico. Assuming that Perez-Vasquez would be deported, Morresi did not file charges at that time.

Perez-Vasquez was never deported. He returned recently to the Beaver Meadows Police Department to retrieve his truck, which was seized by police based on information he was in the country illegally.

Soon thereafter, Morresi filed the charges.

Perez-Vasquez's immigration attorney, Tracey Hubbard, requested unsecured bail for her client, saying he has no previous criminal record, has a 4-year-old child in Hazleton and is not a flight risk. She said Perez-Vasquez appeared before an immigration judge to determine whether he'd be deported to Mexico. The judge released him on $1,500 bail and Perez-Vasquez returned to Hazleton. She also said her client has been granted an application for a green card.

Carbon County Assistant District Attorney Joseph Matika, however, requested "some form of monetary bail" because he said Perez-Vasquez's immigration status is in question.

After setting bail, Homanko scheduled a preliminary hearing for 9:30 a.m. Sept. 16.

Although Hubbard told the Standard-Speaker on Tuesday she'd ask Homanko to drop the charges and return Perez-Vasquez's truck, she did not do so during the arraignment.

On Wednesday, the Standard-Speaker received a letter that U.S. Congressman Paul E. Kanjorski, D-11, sent to ICE inquiring why Perez-Vasquez was recently released and was allowed to return to the area.

In the letter, dated Aug. 28, Kanjorski also requests an update on the agency's investigation into why Perez-Vasquez was able to obtain valid identification and a federal tax refund.