APPENDIX D

 

Details of Resendez’s Criminal History

The first record of Resendez’s contact with United States law enforcement or immigration authorities was contained in the INS’s Central Index System (CIS) database. According to CIS, on August 31, 1976, at the age of 17, Resendez was excluded by the INS from United States in San Antonio, Texas.67 An official at the INS’s Law Enforcement Support Center in Burlington, Vermont, who reviewed the CIS records for the OIG, said that this exclusion appears to be related to some crime Resendez committed, since the CIS record lists two aliases, a social security number, an NCIC number, a California driver’s license, and a state of California criminal identification record. However, we found no further information in INS or FBI databases about a crime connected to this exclusion.

On September 11, 1976, Resendez was arrested for trespass on Chrysler property by Chrysler security guards in Sterling Heights, Michigan. According to records compiled by the INS, Resendez told the security guards that he had illegally entered the United States in Brownsville, Texas, on August 31, 1976 (the same day he was excluded from the United States) and had ridden a series of trains to Michigan. He claimed that he planned to make his way to Victoriaville, Canada, to visit his uncle, although he claimed he had lost his uncle’s address. Resendez was taken to the Sterling Heights Police Department, which processed him and turned him over to the INS. The INS granted Resendez voluntary departure to Mexico. This information was not contained in Resendez’s regular INS A-file.

On October 2, 1976, Resendez was arrested by the Border Patrol in McAllen, Texas, as he was attempting to enter the United States illegally. The Border Patrol voluntarily returned Resendez to Mexico the same day. The record of this apprehension appears in the NCIC database, but was not in a separate INS database. We were unable to locate further details with regard to this encounter with the Border Patrol.

On September 29, 1977, Resendez was convicted in Corinth, Mississippi for destroying private property and leaving the scene of the crime. At the time of his arrest, Resendez had a “phony” social security card and private investigator’s badge. Resendez first claimed to the police that he was born in San Antonio, Texas, then admitted that he was from Mexico. The Corinth police informed the INS that it had arrested Resendez and was holding him. The INS filed a notice of detainer on September 30, 1977. Resendez was eventually convicted and sentenced to time served. On October 13, 1977, the INS voluntarily returned Resendez to Mexico. The information regarding Resendez’s voluntary return was in his juvenile A-file but not in any other INS databases.

According to Florida conviction records, on June 6, 1979, Resendez broke into a private home in Miami, Florida, by pushing through a screen. Once inside the house, he beat the 88-year-old owner on his head and body. Resendez ransacked the house while the victim was semi-conscious. Resendez then stole the victim’s car and drove to Hillsborough, Kentucky, where he abandoned the car. The car was recovered by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on June 14, 1979.

On July 13, 1979, Resendez was arrested by the Kentucky State police for a burglary of a dwelling and possession of a stolen motor vehicle in Clark County, Kentucky. While he was in custody, it was discovered that he was wanted for the burglary in Miami, Florida. Resendez was extradited to Miami, Florida to face the more serious charges there. The disposition of the Kentucky charges is not clear. The state prosecutors in Miami charged Resendez with grand theft of an automobile, aggravated battery, and burglary. According to Florida records, the victim of the burglary in Miami died on November 27, 1979, although an autopsy indicated that the probable cause of death was “natural causes.”

Florida records indicate that Resendez was also charged for a 1979 theft of an automobile in Tampa, Florida. Following Resendez’s extradition to Miami, the Tampa State Attorney’s Office agreed to dismiss the theft charges so that he could be prosecuted in Miami on the more serious charges there.

On March 3, 1980, Resendez pled nolo-contendre to the charge of burglary in Miami. He went to trial on the remaining charges of theft of an automobile and aggravated battery, and was convicted of those charges. On May 23, 1980, Resendez was sentenced to twenty years’ imprisonment on all counts, to be served concurrently. The records of these convictions were not in any INS records but were contained in NCIC.

Resendez served only six years of this sentence before he was granted parole in Florida. Upon learning of his impending parole on June 27, 1985, the INS placed a detainer on Resendez. On August 27, 1985, he was released from prison on parole and transferred to the custody of the INS. On September 13, 1985, the INS deported Resendez from Brownsville, Texas, to Mexico. The record of this deportation was in an INS database, CIS.

According to NCIC records, on December 10, 1985, less then three months after his deportation to Mexico, Resendez was convicted of another charge: making a false representation of U.S. citizenship, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 911. Resendez was sentenced to 18 months’ incarceration at FCI El Reno, Oklahoma. This conviction is reported in the NCIC database. It appears, however, that INS did not track the outcome of the charges. We could not locate any INS records detailing the offense, including the date and place of the arrest, the nature of the offense, or how long he served in prison. There is no indication in INS files that it placed a detainer on Resendez or deported him to Mexico after he served this sentence.

We know that Resendez did not serve his full sentence because he was arrested once more on June 1, 1986, in Laredo, Texas, for again making a false representation of U.S. citizenship. As he was going through the Laredo port of entry, Resendez told the INS agents that he was a United States citizen by birth. He also presented a fraudulent voter registration card and birth certificate. Inspection of a bag that Resendez was carrying revealed several fraudulent documents, including blank birth certificates with raised notary public seals, envelopes with notary public seals, another counterfeit birth certificate, blank motor vehicle registration forms for New York and Vermont, and various documents bearing an impressed State of Texas Notary Public seal. On July 17, 1986, Resendez pled guilty to making a false representation of U.S. citizenship and was subsequently sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment. He served a total of approximately 15 months for this offense and was released to the custody of the INS on August 27, 1987. On October 2, 1987, the INS deported Resendez from Brownsville, Texas to Mexico. The records of this offense were in NCIC as well as in the INS’s CIS database, and the record of his deportation was in the INS’s DACS database.

Three months later, on January 19, 1988, Resendez was arrested in New Orleans, Louisiana, and charged with defrauding an innkeeper and possession of a concealed weapon. Resendez was arrested in a hotel room, along with four other individuals, after it was discovered that they had rented the room with a stolen credit card. When the police entered the room, Resendez was seated in a chair. As he rose from the chair, the officers saw a .32 caliber automatic pistol on the chair cushion, with a clip loaded with 8 rounds. Resendez denied that the gun belonged to him, although 25 cartridges for a .32 caliber weapon were found on him. He later stated that he had found the gun and ammunition in a bag under a bridge and was hoping to sell them in New Orleans. According to Louisiana records, on January 27, 1988, the credit card charge was dismissed because it could not be determined who had stolen the credit card, and the gun charge was dismissed because Resendez was sitting on the gun rather than concealing it on his person. The arrest was reported in NCIC.

Resendez’s INS A-file indicates that in May 1988, the United States Department of Health and Human Services and the INS opened a joint investigation of Resendez for fraudulently applying for three social security cards and a United States passport with documentation he had taken from another person with whom he had once lived. After a lengthy investigation that showed that Resendez had committed additional fraudulent activities such as using false identification documents to open financial accounts, pay rent, and pass bad checks, and that he had used at least 11 aliases, the St. Louis police and an INS agent arrested Resendez on November 30, 1988. At the time of his arrest, several additional false documents were found on Resendez. During the arrest, the police took from Resendez a key to a storage locker and later obtained a search warrant for the locker. The search of the locker revealed a .380 semiautomatic pistol, a large knife, and additional false documents. A January 14, 1989, search of Resendez’s rented room in Ann Arbor, Michigan, disclosed more false documents, evidence of rent payments made on safety deposit boxes, and approximately one pound of marijuana seeds. A search of these safety deposit boxes on February 24, 1989, found 70 individually wrapped envelopes of marijuana, weighing approximately 6.5 pounds.

On March 29, 1989, Resendez was convicted in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri of various offenses arising from this investigation:

(1) six counts of false statements regarding his identity, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 1001, including written statements about his social security and passport applications, as well as statements to the arresting INS agents, the pretrial services officer, and to a United States Magistrate;

(2) three counts of the use of aliases to obtain a false social security number, pursuant to 42 USC § 408(g);

(3) three counts of falsely representing to be a U.S. citizen, pursuant to 18 USC § 911;

(4) one count of the use of an alias to induce issuance of a passport, pursuant to 18 USC § 1542;

(5) one count of the use of aliases with the intent to use unlawful false identification, pursuant to 18 USC § 1028(a)(3);

(6) one count of possession of a firearm by an alien and convicted felon, pursuant to 18 USC § 922(g); and

(7) one count of reentry after deportation, pursuant to 18 USC § 1326.

Resendez was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment for these charges, to be served concurrently. His A-file indicates that on January 17, 1991, the INS placed a detainer on him. He was released to the INS in March 1991, and the INS deported him to Mexico on May 13, 1991. Resendez’s A-file contained virtually all of the records relating to these offenses. NCIC also contained records of these convictions, and his deportation after serving time for this offense was included in CIS and DACS.

On March 3, 1992, in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Resendez removed a screen door from a back bedroom of a house and entered while the occupants were sleeping. While inside, he took a pistol from the house. When the residents discovered him inside the house, he ran outside but was arrested shortly thereafter by the police and positively identified by the residents. At the time of his arrest, Resendez had a fake Texas driver’s license with his picture and a false name. He told the police that his plan was to steal a vehicle. On August 10, 1992, Resendez pled guilty to residential burglary. On October 9, 1992, he was sentenced to a three-year term of incarceration. On April 30, 1993, he was paroled to an INS detainer. There were no INS records, either in INS databases or in Resendez’s A-file, reflecting whether he was deported or voluntarily returned to Mexico.

Approximately two months later, on June 9, 1993, Resendez was arrested in Carson County, Texas, while driving a pickup truck that had been stolen two days earlier in Alton, Missouri. When the police attempted to stop Resendez, he drove the truck across a dirt field and then ran on foot until the police caught him. Resendez gave his name as Carlos Cluthier Rodriguez. He was detained in the Carson County jail pending trial. After the Missouri prosecutors decided not to seek Resendez’s return to Missouri to face a possible felony charge for the theft of the truck, Carson County prosecutors charged Resendez with evading arrest, a misdemeanor. On July 8, 1993, Resendez pled guilty to this offense and was sentenced to time served (29 days). Although the Carson County authorities specifically noted in a letter to the District Attorney their intent to turn Resendez over to the INS for deportation following the disposition of his case, there is no record in any INS database or his A-file about this conviction or whether he was deported after it. The record of this conviction was in the NCIC database.

On December 7, 1994, Resendez was arrested in Albuquerque, New Mexico, while driving a stolen vehicle with two passengers. The vehicle had been stolen in Arizona the day before. When the police attempted to stop him, Resendez tried to elude them, but his vehicle got stuck. Resendez used the name Aerrjel Martinez during this arrest. He apparently was released on bond. On May 28, 1995, Resendez was indicted for receiving or transferring a stolen vehicle, conspiracy to receive or transfer a stolen vehicle, and resisting arrest. A bench warrant was issued for his arrest when he did not appear to face the charges.

On August 18, 1995, approximately three months after the bench warrant was issued in New Mexico, Resendez was arrested by a local police officer in San Bernardino, California, in the yard of the Santa Fe Railroad. The officer observed Resendez jump over a chain-link fence to enter an area in which transients attempted to board freight trains leaving the railroad yard. When apprehended by the officer, Resendez identified himself as Pedro Argel Jaramillo. He said he was from San Antonio, Texas, and claimed to be an “observer for the government.” He said that he did not have identification because he had to assume different identities for his assignments with the government. After arresting Resendez for trespass, the officer searched Resendez’s gym bag and found a .22 caliber handgun. Resendez told the officer that he had found the handgun in a bag under a bridge. It was discovered that the gun had been stolen in a burglary in Stockton, California in 1993.

Resendez was transferred to the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department, where he was charged with carrying a loaded firearm in a public place, trespassing on railroad property, and receiving stolen property. The arresting officer stated that Resendez claimed to be a U.S. citizen. When Resendez was booked at the San Bernardino County Jail, the officer requested that the INS determine his status in the United States to determine if he was in the United States illegally. On August 24, 1995, the Riverside Border Patrol placed a detainer on Resendez. On August 25, 1995, Resendez was convicted on all these charges and sentenced to 30 days in the San Bernardino County jail. On September 6, 1995, the INS voluntarily returned him to Mexico.

According to FBI records, on August 4, 1996, Resendez was stopped by a guard at the Norfolk Southern Railroad yard in Macon, Georgia. He was issued a warning for trespassing and escorted off the railroad property. Two days later, on August 6, 1996, he was arrested for trespassing at the Norfolk Southern Railroad yard in Science Hill, Kentucky. On August 8, 1996, he pled guilty to criminal trespass, was sentenced to time served, and was released. This information was not in INS records.

Much but not all of Resendez’s criminal history was contained in NCIC. The NCIC printout dated July 14, 1999, contained the following 10 entries for arrests and/or convictions:

(1) an October 2, 1976, arrest by the Border Patrol in McAllen, Texas, and voluntary departure from the United States;

(2) a December 10, 1985, arrest and subsequent conviction for false representation to be a U.S. citizen (location of offense not stated);

(3) a June 1, 1986 arrest and subsequent conviction in San Antonio, Texas for false representation to be a United States Citizen;

(4) a June 3, 1986, arrest and conviction for “immigration illegal re-entry” in Laredo, Texas;

(5) an August 27, 1987, “exclusion proceeding” in Dallas, Texas;

(6) a January 19, 1988, arrest in New Orleans, Louisiana, for defrauding an innkeeper and illegal possession of a concealed weapon;

(7) a November 30, 1988, arrest and subsequent conviction in St. Louis, Missouri, for false statements to a federal officer (6 counts), providing false information to obtain a social security card (3 counts), making a false claim to U.S. citizenship (3 counts), false statements on an application for a U.S. passport, possession of false identification documentation, alien and convicted felon in possession of a firearm, and reentry after deportation;

(8) a March 3, 1992, arrest and subsequent conviction in Las Cruces, New Mexico, for residential burglary;

(9) a June 9, 1993 arrest and subsequent conviction for resisting or evading arrest in Carson County, Texas; and

(10) a December 7, 1994, arrest in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for receiving a stolen motor vehicle (and an outstanding warrant for this offense).

 

APPENDIX E

 

Exhibits

 

 

Exhibits are not available for posting at this time.

 


67 “Excluded” means that when an alien attempts to enter the United States, most likely at a port of entry, he is refused admission because he does not qualify for entry. It is different from when an alien has entered the United States illegally and must be voluntarily returned or removed.

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