COLUMBIA --- The South Carolina Supreme Court on Tuesday tossed out the drug-dealing convictions and 25-year prison sentences for three illegal Mexican immigrants who were caught in Edgefield County.
Raphael Hernandez, Honorio Guerrero, and Alfredo Avila-Arjona have already served seven years of their sentences, costing taxpayers nearly $630,000, said their attorney, Joe Savitz.
"That's what we pay to keep three innocent men in jail," said Mr. Savitz, chief appellate defender for the S.C. Commission on Indigent Defense.
The S.C. Attorney General plans to file a petition for a rehearing and has 15 days to do so.
"We believe the defendants are guilty," said Mark Plowden, a spokesman for the attorney general.
The trouble began at a border-crossing in Laredo, Texas, when federal officials were searching an 18-wheeler tractor-trailer. They found 900 pounds of marijuana bricks stashed inside 23 wooden chimneys headed for Tienda DeLeon in Trenton, S.C. , according to court records.
The officials seized the drugs and switched the driver with an undercover agent to complete the delivery.
When the truck arrived at Tienda DeLeon, in Trenton, the owner of the store, Fredy DeLeon, and two others arrived in a Ford Thunderbird and unloaded several pieces of furniture. The undercover agents were told to drive the rest of the shipment to a nearby convenience store.
A short time later, Mr. Guerrero appeared driving a Ryder moving truck, with Mr. Avila-Arjona and Mr. Hernandez riding along.
The Thunderbird passenger told the agents to follow them along a dirt road to a new place. But the tractor-trailer and the Ryder truck got stuck in the mud.
The agents arrested Mr. Hernandez, Mr. Guerrero and Mr. Avila-Arjona. But the Thunderbird sped away.
"My guys were just there and got swept up," said Mr. Savitz.
"If they'd been hired to actually move furniture, they'd have done nothing differently," he added. "The only difference was the furniture happened to contain marijuana, lots of marijuana."
Tuesday's Supreme Court decision said there was no proof the three men knew they were part of a drug deal.
"Although (the three men's) actions may have been suspicious, mere suspicion is insufficient to support the verdict," wrote Chief Justice Jean Toal in Tuesday's decision.
The Augusta Chronicle ©2010 Morris Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
So what about thier immigration status? Where they sent back to Mexico? Or given compensation for seven years served and released in Trenton?
bs!
A perfect example of ignorant officers that don't know the Constitution and thought that the "switch" was legal, in fact, those federals guys should be held accountable for their violations. An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
A perfect example of Justus not making any sense (again). The case wasn't about the legality of the driver.
Thanks corgimom. I was beginning to get dizzy reading his before I gave up and read yours.
Maybe the illegals wrote the version of the Constitution that justus has. How, exactly do you violate the rights of someone, who, by definition, doesn't have any rights? An injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. That's a nice quote, too bad it doesn't apply here. The switch was legal. The dope & the dealers weren't. I hope "they" get deported & billed for the free room & board the Legal, tax paying, American people gave them.