TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2010


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Man sentenced in documents scam


He posed as immigration official to fool victims, prosecutors say


BY DAN MORSE Tooling around Montgomery


County inhisFerrari,RobertFred Mejia presented himself as the picture of success. In court Mon- day — moments before he was sentenced tomore than a decade in prison — prosecutors laid out the audacious scam that helped himlive that life. Stretching over at least two


years, Mejia would slip into the disguise of federal immigration agent “Jimmy Rico.” He wore combat boots, a thigh holster, and a shirt and hat bearing the letters ICE, for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.He used a different car, one that looked like a police cruiser. And for the right price —


PHOTOS BY JUANA ARIAS FOR THE WASHINGTON POST Melisa Arellano-Bolanos, 21 months old, was born in theUnited States but her parents are in the country illegally and could be ordered out. Family faces a double deportation deport from B1


illegally selling a $10 phone card to a neighbor—an allegation she denies.The chargewas eventually dropped, but by thenBolanos had been been fingerprinted and foundtobeinthecountryillegally byU.S. Immigration andCustoms Enforcement. She has been told she probably


will be deported after a Wednes- day hearing before an immigra- tion judge inBaltimore. Officialswith Immigration and


Customs Enforcement said re- movals during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 included more than 1,000 murderers, nearly 6,000 sex offenders, 45,000 drug offenders and 28,000 drunk driv- ers. The number fell short of the agencyexpectationof400,000de- portations but still surpassed the 2009totalof 387,790, theprevious record. Although ICE officials have


toutedthelargenumbersofcrimi- nals who are being deported via SecureCommunities, they areun- apologetic about the significant number of non-criminals being removed as well. In the past year, more than half of the 392,000 immigrants deported were con- victed criminals; the rest had overstayed their visas or entered the country without authoriza- tion. “ICE cannot andwill not turn a


blind eye to those who violate federal immigrationlaw,” saidICE spokesman Brian Hale. “While ICE’s enforcement efforts priori- tizeconvictedcriminalaliens, ICE maintains the discretion to take actiononany alienit encounters.” Not surprisingly, immigrant-


rights groupshave beencritical of the administration’s efforts to ratchet up deportations without delivering onthe president’s cam- paign promise to create a path to citizenship for the country’s 11 million undocumented immi- grants. But Secure Communities also


has come under attack in Arling- ton County, theDistrict and other jurisdictions,where local officials worry that it is discouraging un- documented immigrantswho are crime victims andwitnesses from coming forward. Those concerns are well justi-


fied, said Bolanos, speaking through a translator. “You would have to be crazy to


call the police,” she said. “I would never call the police again.”


Detained and desperate Maria Bolanos works two jobs


topayherbills.Shedoes janitorial work at an apartment complex Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and pulls a 6 p.m.-to-3 a.m. shift at a restaurant Thursday through Sunday. “Dora the Explorer” plays end-


Maria Bolanos, with daughterMelisa, worries about what her deportation hearing will mean for them. 6


on washingtonpost.com A family’s crisis


An undocumented Salvadoran could be


separated from her child.


lessly on the TV in her second- floor apartment, in deference to thewishesofherdaughter,Melisa Arellano-Bolanos. Framed pictures of “The Last


Supper” and of Jesus and Mary hang above the dining table. A photo of Bolanos’s partner, Fer- nandoArellano,huggingMelisais tucked into a corner of one of the frames. Bolanos said she came to the


United States in 2004 in search of a better life. She paid $7,000 to “coyotes” to help her cross the border via theArizona desert. The first time, her party was


caught, she said. Shewas released in the desert across the Arizona border from Mexico after being fingerprinted and photographed by authorities — and almost im- mediately crossed the border again. She foundherway to theWash-


ington area andmet Arellano at a restaurant where she worked. Arellano,now34,was also undoc- umented and from Mexico. They fell in love andmoved in together. Melisa was born in January 2008 atWashingtonHospital Center. The couple’s fight began when


Arellano came home late on Christmas Eve, Bolanos said, and it quickly escalated into a shout- ingmatch. By the timepolicearrived,Arel-


lano had left the apartment. Police charged Arellano with assault. That chargewas dropped


when neither Bolanos nor the po- lice officer showed up in court, according to a spokesman for the Prince George’s states attorney’s office. Months later, the fight forgot-


ten, Bolanos found an arrestwar- rantwaiting for her on the charge that she was selling phone cards without a license. The charge eventually was


thrown out, but not before she was fingerprinted and the prints were shared with ICE through Secure Communities. Authorities determined that


she was in the country illegally and ordered her detained. Her ankles and wrists were shackled, she said, and she was moved to a detention facility in Upper Marl- boro. Bolanos said she told authori-


ties shewas stillbreastfeedingher daughter, but that they initially disregarded her plea to be re- leased. After a doctor found that her breasts were engorged with milk, shewas fittedwith a locator ankle bracelet and sent home, pending the deportation hearing Wednesday.


Parents in jeopardy In August, Arellano was


booked by police for making an illegal traffic turn.Police foundhe did not have a driver’s license and arrested him. His fingerprints went to ICE, too — and he was detained. Now he is also facing deportation. “In both of these cases, Secure


Communities functioned exactly as itwasdesignedto,allowingICE to identify individuals booked into jail for a state crime andwho were also present in the country unlawfully,” said ICE spokesman


Hale. But that’s not how immigrant-


rights group see it. ICEismisrepresenting thepro-


gram in order to implement a nationwide deportation instru- ment, said Gustavo Andrade, or- ganizing director at CASA of Maryland, which has been trying to help Bolanos. “Even one family destroyed because of this kind of programmakes it unacceptable.” Prince George’s State’s Attor-


ney Glenn F. Ivey also expressed concern about a phone card charge leading to a deportation proceeding. “We should target our limited


state andfederal lawenforcement dollars on killers, rapists, child molesters, human traffickers and violent gang members,” Ivey said in a statement. “This kind of de- fendant should not be a high pri- ority.” If Bolanos and Arellano are


both deported, he would have to go toMexico and she to El Salva- dor,meaningMelisawould be left without at least one of her par- ents. In El Salvador, Bolanos said, her familyhas faced deaththreats from gangs, and her brother was killed a year ago. As she talked, Melisa played


with the charger attached to her mother’s ankle bracelet. Bolanos spends two hours every day charging the device, which looks like a BlackBerry attached to her leg with a thick band of black rubber. It hurtswhen shewalks. Bolanos wears long jeans to


cover the ankle bracelet. “I’m really ashamed to show it


in public,” she said. “People see it and think I’mamurderer. I try to keep it covered at all times.” vedantams@washpost.com


October was warm, but November seems to have other ideas BY MARTINWEIL That was an unusually warm


month, theonethatendedSunday night. Sowhat else isnew? October was Washington’s


eighth consecutive month with temperatures well above normal, accordingtotheNationalWeather Service. The average temperature of


eachmonth, starting withMarch, hasbeenat least 2.5degrees above normal, the weather service said Monday evening. The average October tempera-


ture, as measured at Reagan Na- tional Airport, was 2.7 degrees abovethenormalOctobertemper- ature. The report was released just


before hours of frost and freeze were expected to descend on the Washingtonarea andits suburbs. The weather service predicted


in an advisory that “areas of frost” might be found early Tuesday morning inplaces inside theCapi- tal Beltway. Temperatures in the early hours could sink into the middle 30s, the weather service said. For places beyond the beltway,


to the north and west, the service issued freeze warnings. Tempera- tures in Frederick County, Gaith- ersburg and Leesburg could sink into the 20s, the weather service said. This would be nothing like Oc-


tober in Washington, a month in which themercury rose as high as


88degrees. The lowest October tempera-


ture was 40 degrees, reported at the airport on Saturday. That ap- peared to be the coldest reading there since March 28, when the mercurydippedto 38. weilm@washpost.com


generally thousands of dollars — he and his conspirators offered citizenship and legalization pa- pers to at least 90 people who thought they were getting the real thing. In handing down the sentence


Monday, Circuit Judge Paul Weinstein noted that Mejia was of Hispanic origin, as were the victims and family members watching from the courtroom gallery. “How do you explain to these


hardworking people, who risk their lives to come to the United States, who probably, most of them, work two and three jobs to make ends meet, who save pen- nies to try to become citizens?” the judge said. “And for you to take advantage of them, it’s be- yondmy comprehension.” Mejia, 29, apologized. “I’ve lied


in every way possible,” he said. “I’ve hurt families.” Speaking to the victims, he


said, “When I do get out, I will return to you what is rightfully yours.” “I don’t believe him,” William


Almendares, one of the victims, said after the hearing. Weinstein sentenced Mejia to


11 years and five months in pris- on, giving him the 10-year maxi- mumon the theft charges, plus 17 months for a probation violation in another case. It’s not clear how muchMejia


stole, but prosecutors say that from 2006 to 2009, he deposited $1.2 million into the bank, while declaring annual incomes of no more than $37,000 on tax re- turns. Almendares, 32, a furniture


deliveryman who lives in Virgin- ia, said he is a legal resident with a work permit. But he was going to visitEl Salvador to see relatives and wanted a green card. “He looked for real,” said Alm-


endares, who is out $4,000. Mejia had earlier pleaded


guilty to theft charges. He also has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of impersonat- ing an immigration officer and faces sentencing for that early next year. “The actions ofMejia served to undermine the legitimacy of pro-


grams associated with citizen- ship,” said Peter Paradis, special agent in charge of the Washing- ton field office of theDepartment of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. A key partner in his scam, as


laid out in police allegations, was 53-year-old Erlinda Marin, who ran the questionable medical clinic fromwhichMejia operated — complete with fingerprinting outside the cruiser, prosecutors say.Marinwill be sentenced soon in the case; she faces a cap of five years for charges that include practicing medicine without a license. The scheme went unreported


because victims were scared that they’d be deported if they stepped forward. “It allowed this to continue again and again and again,” said Montgomery’s top prosecutor, JohnMcCarthy. Many of the victims undoubt-


edly had at least questionable immigration status. But, believing that without


cooperation from all crime vic- tims, the countyultimatelywould have more crime, prosecutors


“They never got anything. Nothing but heartache.”


—Stephen Chaikin, prosecutor, referring to immigrants seeking citizenship papers


never asked the victims about their status. “If you pick and chosewho you


will protect, you create an atmo- sphere of criminal opportunity and lawlessness,”McCarthy said. Mejia has earlier convictions


for impersonating a local police officer, brandishing a weapon, assault and driving under the influence, prosecutors said in court papers. Authorities accused himof im-


personating a law enforcement officer after he used the fake cruiser, a Ford Crown Victoria, to pull over an acquaintance. That led police to search Me-


jia’s home last year, where they found an ICE-emblazoned hat, FBI fingerprint cards, a “special police” badge, a Smith and Wes- son firearm, the thigh holster and rounds of ammunition, accord- ing to prosecutors. About the same time, victims


inthe immigrationscheme began to tell local charities and church- es about the odd medical facility they’d visited in Gaithersburg, prosecutor Stephen Chaikin said. The charities and churches


contacted police, and the case againstMejia expanded fromim- personating an agent to offering fraudulent immigration papers, Chaikin said. “The ‘clinic’ proved to be fertile


recruiting grounds,” he wrote in court papers filed Friday. The victims “never got any-


thing,” Chaikin said. “Nothing but heartache.” morsed@washpost.com


Man accused of hitting passenger with his car


2 ‘slugs’ asked to be let out because of driver’s behavior, police say


BY MATT ZAPOTOSKY Aman who once served as the


Army’s highest-ranking enlisted soldier was arrested last week after he was accused of ramming his vehicle into a commuter he had picked up fromanHOV“slug line.” Gene C. McKinney, 59, of Ma-


nassas was charged with at- tempted malicious wounding in the incident, which occurred about 9 a.m. Oct. 25, authorities said.He oncewas sergeantmajor of the Army. Detective Crystal Nosal, an


Arlington County police spokes- woman, said that McKinney had picked up two people to be able to drive in high-occupancy lanes on Interstate 95. He dropped both of themoff in the 1100 block of South Eads


Street after they had asked to be let out because, they said, McK- inney was driving erratically and speeding, Nosal said. When one of the passengers tried to take a picture of McKinney’s vehicle and tag number to file a com- plaint, he “accelerated the vehi- cle and struck the subject,” Nosal said. Nosal said that one of the


passengers, whom she declined to identify, called police and that McKinney remained on the scene until officers arrived. She said the victim was not hospital- ized. McKinney was arrested on a


no-bond status, but court records indicate that he was freed on bail. Neither he nor his attorney returned phone messages seek- ing comment. McKinney was stripped of his


rank as sergeant major in 1998 after he was convicted of trying to obstruct an investigation into charges of sexualmisconduct.He was cleared of the sexualmiscon- duct charges. zapotoskym@washpost.com


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