Second man sentenced to time served in BP raid case
BY DAN HINKEL
dhinkel@nwitimes.com
219.852.4317 Monday, February 23, 2009
HAMMOND Another man jailed after the BP Whiting refinery immigration raid in December has been sentenced to time already served and turned over to civil immigration authorities.
Mexican citizen Roman Torrano-Ramirez, 49, admitted Monday in Hammond federal court he overstayed a six-month visa granted for a visit in 1993. As part of a plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to eluding inspection by immigration officers. The U.S. attorney's office dismissed a charge of using a false Social Security number. Torrano-Ramirez has agreed to cooperate with federal investigations.
Magistrate Judge Andrew Rodovich sentenced Torrano-Ramirez to time already served since being jailed in the Dec. 10 raid. Rodovich ordered Torrano-Ramirez transferred into the custody of civil immigration authorities. Torrano-Ramirez will face immigration hearings that could lead to his deportation.
Torrano-Ramirez was arrested in an immigration raid that netted 14 other people. The immigrants were contractors for a janitorial firm, not BP employees.
http://www.nwi.com/articles/2009/02/23/updates/breaking_news/doc49a2ee38c9354669073621.txt
Showing posts with label Expulsions in IN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Expulsions in IN. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Immigrants from raid to stay in jail
Immigrants from raid to stay in jail
December 23, 2008
By Andy Grimm
Post-Tribune staff writer
HAMMOND -- Five illegal immigrants facing criminal charges after a workplace raid at the BP?refinery in Whiting two weeks ago will spend the holidays in jail, either awaiting trial or detention hearings.
Attorneys requested delay of detention hearings for three of the defendants while awaiting information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and two others pleaded innocent and will await trial dates in 2009.
Across from the courthouse, supporters marched and chanted at passing cars, including the children of Hammond resident Roman Torrano-Ramirez, who carried a sign that read "FREE MY DAD."
Kathy Quezada, a 17-year-old student at Hammond's Clark High?School and the oldest of defendant Maria Patricia Areja-Cali's four children, said her mother's arrest has put a strain on her family.
"It's really hard not having my mom at home," Quezada said. "We have a lot of family helping us out, but the kids keep asking when she's coming home, especially the 3-year-old."
During the Dec. 10 raid, immigration officials arrested 15 people -- one Guatemalan, the rest Mexican -- and have released 10 to home detention. Only five of those arrested face criminal charges.
The raid stemmed from a two-year investigation of United Building Maintenance, an Illinois janitorial company hired by BP. Authorities began investigating after receiving a tip that undocumented workers were employed by UBM and had access to sensitive areas of the plant, which Homeland Security officials see as a potential threat to public safety.
Authorities have said none of those indicted posed a threat to the plant or to national security.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1344593,lcimmigrants.article
December 23, 2008
By Andy Grimm
Post-Tribune staff writer
HAMMOND -- Five illegal immigrants facing criminal charges after a workplace raid at the BP?refinery in Whiting two weeks ago will spend the holidays in jail, either awaiting trial or detention hearings.
Attorneys requested delay of detention hearings for three of the defendants while awaiting information from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and two others pleaded innocent and will await trial dates in 2009.
Across from the courthouse, supporters marched and chanted at passing cars, including the children of Hammond resident Roman Torrano-Ramirez, who carried a sign that read "FREE MY DAD."
Kathy Quezada, a 17-year-old student at Hammond's Clark High?School and the oldest of defendant Maria Patricia Areja-Cali's four children, said her mother's arrest has put a strain on her family.
"It's really hard not having my mom at home," Quezada said. "We have a lot of family helping us out, but the kids keep asking when she's coming home, especially the 3-year-old."
During the Dec. 10 raid, immigration officials arrested 15 people -- one Guatemalan, the rest Mexican -- and have released 10 to home detention. Only five of those arrested face criminal charges.
The raid stemmed from a two-year investigation of United Building Maintenance, an Illinois janitorial company hired by BP. Authorities began investigating after receiving a tip that undocumented workers were employed by UBM and had access to sensitive areas of the plant, which Homeland Security officials see as a potential threat to public safety.
Authorities have said none of those indicted posed a threat to the plant or to national security.
http://www.post-trib.com/news/lake/1344593,lcimmigrants.article
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