Bond reduced for alleged illegal alien
The defense attorney for a forgery suspect admitted to the court his client was in the country illegally at a bond hearing Friday.
Warren Rowe told Houston County District Court Judge Lori Collier Ingram his client, Luis Arellano-Hernandez, was not a legal resident of the U.S. when asked by the court.
Houston County Sheriff’s investigators recently arrested Arellano-Hernandez, 39, and charged him with felony first-degree forgery for signing a false name to his to jail docket card. Court records show he signed the name Carlos Cortez.
Arellano-Hernandez had been in the Houston County Jail on a $500,000 bond for the forgery charge. Rowe requested a bond reduction hearing on the charge.
Ingram reduced the bond to $30,000 cash Friday afternoon.
“This is not a murder case,” Rowe said. “I know he gave a fictitious name, but this is unreasonable.”
David Atwell, the prosecutor for the case, argued for the court to set a high bond calling Arellano-Hernandez a flight risk. Atwell said the defendant had 32 different aliases he used, and had been deported from the country 28 times.
“If he gets out we’ll never see him again,” Atwell said. “A high bond will ensure he’s in court.”
Houston County Sheriff’s deputies initially charged the man with felony obstruction of justice for giving deputies a false name, Caesar Garza, only to find it later
it was Carlos Cortez. But investigators learned through Immigration and Customs Enforcement Cortez was actually Luis Hernandez-Arellano.
Rowe said Friday his client attempted to post his $20,000 cash bond set on the obstruction of justice charge, but deputies seized the money before it could be used to bond out his client.
Arellano-Hernandez also has a pending felony conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance charge in Geneva County.
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Reader Reactions
I think this is ridiculous. Of course he is going to be able to make the 30k bond, he’s already made a large bond in geneva county and from where does the money come from? We all know where it comes from, the sale of illegal narcotics. How could anyone post all these monies if they worked a regular job like everyday people in the wiregrass area. This guy has not been out of prison for 6 months and already been shipped back to mexico to find his way back to geneva, houston county area within a month of that release.I realize that everyone is entitled to a fair trail and a fair bond set but when you have violated and continue to violate the laws why should anything be fair? What do you do with these people? Send them back to Mexico? they will be back in a week.Put them in prison?Their wives, girlfriends, other family members continue on with the business and we as taxpayers have to flip the bill to house them plus they have access to any amount of monies, they so desire.I think its a losing battle with this issue, the only good thing I can possibly see coming out of this is that your courts will get alot of monies that won’t have to be given back (because they won’t show up for court)and the attorney (which i can’t blame him for representing him, someone needs to try to savage the monies their making off our community) is the only ones getting rich off this.
I say we just set them (Im not referring to all mexicans so don’t think that, only the ones that seem to want to destroy our communities with their illegal activites) on a small deserted island about 300 miles from anywhere and leave them there.We would make sure that it had plenty of fruit and fish for them to survive and even fresh water because Lord knows we wouldn’t want to be catergorized as being inhumane.It will take a minute for them to be able to build a boat to get back into the U.S.
See…this is a perfect example of what’s wrong with our “justice” system. Sure, let’s set bond low for this illegal immigrant who has 32 different aliases and has been deported 28 times. Oh, and let’s have sympathy for him because the deputies seized the $20,000 IN CASH that he was going to use to bond himself out again. Now…call me crazy, but I have to wonder how this illegal immigrant got his hands on $20,000 cash. My husband and I both work and I would have a hard time coming up with $20,000 cash at a moments notice. Oh, but silly me…I guess it’s not to difficult when you’re a drug dealer. Ooops…I mean “alleged” drug dealer. So sure, let’s set a lowered bond for him and turn him loose. Of COURSE he’ll show back up for his trial. He seems like a completely trustworthy individual, not a flight risk at all! Man…this is sad. You know that he’s sitting there laughing at our laws, and so are all the other illegals just like him. For all you softies out there…tell you what. YOU go to Mexico and get caught slinging dope. See how well you’re treated there. The simple fact that he’s here illegally should earn him a prison cell. Not immediate deportation. We all see how well deporting them works. Instead of wasting our tax dollars giving them a free ride home, how about throwing them into a jail cell?
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