A county judge in Oregon is under fire for allegedly helping an illegal immigrant use her private entrance to avoid being captured by federal agents. The judge is not facing criminal charges at this time; however, the Department of Justice is looking into the matter.
“I was troubled because, on the face of it, what I heard sounded like potential federal criminal law violations and/or ethical violations,” U.S. Attorney Billy Williams told Willamette Week reporters. “Generally, we’re talking about obstruction of justice.”
The case took place in January at the Multnomah County Courthouse in Oregon, where 22-year-old Diddier Pacheco Salazar was set to plead guilty to two charges in connection with a January 1 DUI arrest, the Willamette Week recently reported. On January 27, Pacheco pleaded guilty to one count of driving recklessly and one count of driving under the influence of intoxicants.
According to the Oregon newspaper, plainclothes federal agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been at the courthouse looking for illegal immigrants. That is when lower court judge Monica Herranz allegedly had Pacheco escorted out through a private entrance in order to avoid being captured by ICE agents who were looking for him to arrest him on immigration charges. Federal agents arrested Pacheco two weeks later at another court hearing.
The attorney for the illegal alien expressed surprise at the disappearance of his client from the courtroom. I prepped my client. I said, ‘I don’t know if they’re going to pick you up outside or what, but here’s how to prepare,'” Salazar’s lawyer John Schlosser said to the local reporters. “After the court appearance, I went out in the hallway and sat. My client never came out. I can’t say that I’m surprised he didn’t come out, but I gave him his options, and assume he had to have been escorted out some other way.”
While federal authorities have not yet filed criminal charges against Herranz, her court superiors are also carrying out an inquiry into her alleged actions.
Breitbart Texas associate editor and senior political news contributor Bob Price contributed to this article. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.