Too pissed off to write a comment
(we lost an EMT to this illegal)

Illegal Immigrant Gets Maximum Sentence In Hit & Run Death
Robert Martinez-Ruiz Apologizes For Fatal Accident
September 28, 2005
www.thedenverchannel.com/news/5031693/detail.html
BRIGHTON, Colo. -- An illegal immigrant was given the maximum sentence Wednesday for the hit-and-run death of a motorcyclist a year ago.

Roberto Martinez-Ruiz was handed a 16½-year prison sentence following his conviction for the July 2004 accident that killed Justin Goodman, 32, as Goodman was riding his motorcycle through a Thornton intersection.

Martinez-Ruiz, 33, was convicted in Adams County a year after the accident on seven criminal counts, including leaving the scene and tampering with evidence to cover up a crime.

In court Wednesday, he said he was very sorry for what he did. Martinez-Ruiz also asked the judge for a second chance because he had prior convictions on his record.

The family of Goodman asked the judge for the maximum prison sentence against Martinez-Ruiz who is a habitual traffic offender, according to traffic records.

Goodman died after he was hit by a sport utility vehicle that drove through the intersection of 88th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard without stopping.

Thornton investigators spent six months tracking down the Ford Explorer that hit Goodman, and finally found Martinez-Ruiz. Police said he is an illegal immigrant who had phony immigration documents and had been in trouble with the law several times before.

It was a 7NEWS investigation that revealed that no local law enforcement agency, prosecutor, or judge ever contacted federal immigration officials to have Martinez-Ruiz deported after his numerous arrests and time spent in jail.

Since 1996, Martinez-Ruiz used six different aliases, had arrests for driving under the influence, failure to appear in court, probation violation, careless driving, driving with a revoked license, and hit and run.

He has spent time in jail and in 2000, his drivers license was revoked for five years.


This is from when it happened, the illegal had several convictions for dui before he did this dui-hit-n-run
Family Of Hit-And-Run Victim Angry That Illegal Immigrant Was Never Deported
Martinez-Ruiz Had Numerous Arrests, But Immigration Was Never Notified

February 8, 2005
www.thedenverchannel.com/7newsinvestigates/4176452/detail.html
DENVER -- The family of a 32-year-old hit-and-run victim is angry after they found out that the man accused in the killing is a person who should have never been driving, or even been in the country.

Justin Goodman's family is demanding answers, for themselves, and so others aren't put in danger.

"He was a very good husband, he was a really good father. He adored his family, and he had many good friends," said Carol Vizzi, Goodman's mother. "If somebody needed money, Justin was there. If somebody needed a hug or emotional counseling, Justin was there. If they needed somebody to talk to, he was there."

Goodman was riding his motorcycle through a Thornton, Colo., intersection the night of July 1, 2004 when he was struck by a Ford Explorer. The truck never stopped, sailing through 88th Avenue and Colorado Boulevard. Goodman died near the curb where he was thrown by the impact. Justin's uncle called his mother to tell her the bad news.

"I don't know that I have words to describe it. It was instant horror," Vizzi said.

Thornton investigators spent months tracking down the suspect and finally arrested 33-year-old Roberto Martinez-Ruiz. His photo has not released pending witness identification.

But 7NEWS Investigators have found that since 1996, Martinez-Ruiz used six different aliases, had arrests for driving under the influence, failure to appear in court, probation violation, careless driving, driving with a revoked license, and hit and run. He has spent time in jail and in 2000, his license was revoked for five years.

"How could he possibly escape justice this many times and put out on the street where he was able to kill Justin? I mean, we were outraged," Vizzi said.

Martinez-Ruiz is also an illegal immigrant who used phony documents. And despite all the arrests, time in jail, and appearances in court, 7NEWS has confirmed that no local law enforcement agency, prosecutor or judge ever contacted federal immigration officials in Denver to have him deported.

"You should be accountable for what you've done to the system here, and then you should go back to where you came from so that you're not going to commit additional crimes here," said Bob Grant, a recently retired Adams County district attorney who now heads the State District Attorney's Council.

Martinez-Ruiz was arrested in Grant's jurisdiction but since he never committed a violent crime, no one ever bothered to inform immigration officials.

"Frankly, I don't think a lot of people are checking real hard on things like traffic tickets simply because the resources would not allow them to deal with all the people who confront the system and are not legal," Grant said.

"Anybody who goes in the court system, we should be getting contact on that," said Jeff Copp, the agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE.

He estimates there are now more than 10,000 illegal immigrants in Colorado. Even though the majority have no criminal records, he said he understands why Goodman's family is so upset.

"I'm deeply sorry. He should have been under our radar screen. We should have been contacted by state and locals with the rap sheet this guy has, and I don't know why we haven't had contact with him before," Copp said.

But even if ICE had been contacted, Martinez-Ruiz is only one of hundreds of illegal immigrants in the state who had committed nonviolent crimes. There are not enough agents to find and arrest them, or jail facilities to hold them.

Copp said that if he had the resources, he could easily go out and pick up 100 people whom he knew are illegal.

"We just don't have the space for them," Copp said.

But for those families who have suffered such a loss, such as Goodman's family, that is little consolation.

"We as a society gave him the message that he could break our laws and get away with it and continue that type of behavior and not suffer any real severe consequences for it," said Vizzi. "If people start paying attention, then maybe something can change so some other mother and some other wife and some other little girl do not have to deal with the pain and the suffering and the horror of losing somebody as precious as Justin."

Despite all the talk about the increased funding for Homeland Security, ICE in Denver simply cannot deal with low-level, nonviolent crime. They don't have the agents or the jail space, 7NEWS Investigator John Ferrugia said.

Copp and his crew are focused on busting smuggling operations, not only at the border, but here in the states, where some are assisting illegal immigrants with housing and phony documents.

The story is a microcosm of the frustration so many people, including law enforcement and judges, feel when they're dealing with the illegal immigration issue, Ferrugia said.

He should be tied to a bicycle and pushed onto the interstate.

Is it possible that they misplaced a decimal point?

instead of 16.5 years it should have been 165 years

Quoted: He should be tied to a bicycle and pushed onto the interstate.

Tie him to this sign.

I think he should be executed............then deported, send fox the bill

It'll be like an all-paid vacation for him.

Actually, the "System" needs to be executed.
What a bunch of shiite

Why don't they just take this dog out back for some frontier justice? It'll be cheaper.

He has spent time in jail and in 2000, his drivers license was revoked for five years.


How does an illegal alien get a drivers license???  

Where is "Homeland Security"???

Here is another one for you.
Coming to a small town near you I guess...
Franklin Co. TN

TOP STORY                  September 30, 2005
Suspect Bound Over
Wayne Thomas
 
ACCUSED MURDERER, RAPIST IN COURT—Efrain Orduna Huerta, right, was escorted into Franklin County General Sessions Court Thursday wearing a bullet proof vest following death threats authorities had received against him. Huerta was in court on charges of allegedly kidnapping and raping a Winchester woman. According to the TBI, charges against him will be presented to a special session of the Franklin County Grand Jury Thursday on the kidnapping and rape allegations along with evidence that alleges that Huerta also murdered Shea Ledbetter. Escorting Huerta are Franklin County Sheriff’s Dept.’s Lt. Dean Binkley at left, and Corrections Officer Capt. Michael St. John Huerta in the background. —H-C-Photo by Wayne Thomas  
General Sessions Judge Orders Huerta To Special Grand Jury For Alleged Kidnapping, Rape Charges; Jurors Will Also Hear Ledbetter Murder Case Evidence

A special Franklin County Grand Jury will convene Thursday to consider allegations against a man that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says is the suspect in the murder of Shea Ledbetter. In addition to facing those charges, prosecutors will present evidence in the alleged abduction and rape of another woman.

Efrain Orduna Huerta, 22, of 602 Old Cowan Road, Winchester was led into General Sessions Court Thursday afternoon by deputies of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department. Huerta later heard Franklin County General Sessions Judge Tom Faris bind him over to the special session of the Grand Jury on alleged charges of raping a 24-year-old woman that he allegedly abducted from the parking lot of Wal-Mart in Winchester on August 27.

Judge Faris forwarded the case to the Grand Jury after listening to compelling testimony from the woman whom Huerta is accused of kidnapping and raping. She detailed her abduction from the parking lot of the store. Winchester Police Chief Dennis Young testified that Huerta allegedly took the woman by placing a knife to her throat and forced her into her vehicle and ordered her to drive to his mobile home. During her testimony, the victim told of the alleged abduction and how she was tied up.

According to Young’s testimony, police were first notified that something suspicious was going on at Huerta’s residence when a neighbor noticed him and a woman that appeared to be tied up leaving in the early morning hours. Young said the neighbor called the communication center to report the incident. The chief explained that Winchester Police Sgt. Mike Doty went to the residence and spoke with the neighbor and that he then notified other officers to be on the lookout for the victim’s vehicle, which they were traveling in.

Winchester Police officers Tommy Elliott, and Kevin Smith along with Doty spotted the vehicle and stopped it on Hospital Road in Winchester. The officers said that the victim was able to get out of the car and that she ran to Officer Smith. The police chief alleged that the officers searched the vehicle and found the rope that the woman had been tied with. He also stated that the woman’s arms had been cut. During her testimony the victim told the court how Huerta cut her arms and cut a place on her neck as well.

On Sept. 14, the TBI issued a press release that alleged that Huerta has been identified as a "suspect in the Christmas Eve murder of Frankie Shea Ledbetter."

"Several weeks ago, there was break in that case, when investigators received information that Huerta was the man responsible," the TBI press release stated. "Since that tip, enough evidence has been collected to present that case to the Franklin County Grand Jury on Sept. 29."

Franklin County District Attorney Mike Taylor recently declined identifying Huerta as the suspected murderer. But he did state that a special session of the Franklin County Grand Jury would be held on Sept. 29.

Huerta remains in the Franklin County Jail under a $250,000 bond.

Under heavy security, Huerta was returned to a cell at the Franklin County Jail after the hearing. According to court officials, authorities had received numerous threats on the life of Huerta.

Quoted: Here is another one for you.

Is he an illegal too?

Anyone have Jorge's email address? I'd like to forward these with a big THANKS A LOT!

Quoted: Quoted: Here is another one for you. Is he an illegal too?

He's definately a scumbag, but I must have missed the IA part in that article.

Quoted: Anyone have Jorge's email address? I'd like to forward these with a big THANKS A LOT!

He already knows about these cases, and he knows the Country is pissed about them too

How many more times will crap like this happen before people prove that the vests they are wearing for their "protection" while being transported to court don't do jack against HiVel rifle rounds?



Hang him, publicly, in little mexico (or whatever the latino ghetto is called where the illegals hang out)

leave him to rot in the sun as a testimony to people being sick and tired of illegals ruining people's lives, neighbourhoods, and livelihoods....

Quoted: How many more times will crap like this happen before people prove that the vests they are wearing for their "protection" while being transported to court don't do jack against HiVel rifle rounds?

The police are smart enough to do the minimum required to "protect" a criminal. Why risk your life/health for a scumbag? I bet the police escort would duck down to present a clear shot to the perp while they drew weapons and scanned the area. Heck, there might be a negligent discharge in the direction of the perp.

Why the hell dont the families of those effected by illegal immigration sue the state/feds for millions???

I was reading about one that was doing that under the idea that they were letting
known criminals walk the streets freely...............like a judge paid off by the mob

I think that was in 2002, probably didn't get anywhere, they were naming bush as a conspirator