Illegal immigrant pleads guilty to firearm charges, denied bond

The Associated Press

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- A former aviation contractor who was one of 27 illegal immigrants arrested in March at Piedmont Triad International Airport pleaded guilty Thursday to firearm charges.
Prosecutors said they "will not oppose" dismissal of several other charges against Jorge Ruiz, 60, as part of a plea agreement.

Ruiz worked with prosecutors; pleading guilty to one count of "possession of a firearm in commerce by an illegal alien," and he acknowledged lying about his citizenship when he purchased a shotgun in 2004.

Ruiz worked for the Florida-based S.M.A.R.T., a company that brings temporary workers to TIMCO. Prosecutors said they won't oppose dismissing a charge against Ruiz for giving fake documents to illegal immigrants so they could work in aircraft repair at TIMCO.

"He denies all that stuff about passing on the fake cards," said his attorney, John Carlyle Sherrill III of Salisbury. "He was actually turning down people (seeking work) if they had fake cards that he could tell were fake."

Immigration authorities are planning to grant the Venezuelan citizen temporary resident status.

U.S. District Judge James A. Beaty Jr. denied a request for a release on bond until his September 14 sentencing.

Sherrill said he will have served about the time federal guidelines suggest for two firearms offenses.

WTF? Let him plead out on the gun charge and toss everyhing else?  then let him stay in the country?  He faclitated illegal aliens working of aircraft!