Archive for Thursday, March 30, 2006
Drug suspect arrested after deportation
A month after being deported to Mexico, a Craig woman is back in Moffat County Jail on drug charges after authorities say she snuck into the U.S.
Gabriela Grijalva-Monrreal, 18, of Craig, was arrested at a home in Craig on a warrant Tuesday night.
Craig police arrested Grij-alva-Monrreal at a home in the 900 block of Langford Street on Tuesday after receiving a tip that she was at the home, said Craig police spokesman Lt. John Forgay.
Grijalva-Monrreal was one of 15 people arrested in a major meth sweep in December.
In January, Moffat County Judge Mary Lynne James dropped drug charges against Grijalva-Monrreal because she was 17 at the time that police say she sold meth.
Police say Grijalva-Monrreal sold drugs Sept. 13, according to court documents. She turned 18 on Nov. 27.
James said in January that the 14th Judicial District Attorney's Office could file juvenile charges against Grijalva-Monrreal. James couldn't comment further on the case because juvenile cases are sealed to the public.
Grijalva-Monrreal's booking sheet from the Moffat County Jail states she was arrested Tuesday on a juvenile warrant for meth distribution and a warrant for failing to appear in court.
Grijalva-Monrreal, a Mexican national, was released from Moffat County Jail on Jan. 20 into the custody of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Carl Rusnok, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said agents deported Grijalva-Monrreal to Mexico on Feb. 21.
When immigration agents deported Grijalva-Monrreal, they did not know she had a warrant out for her arrest, Rusnok said.
"I don't know if that was some sort of a miscommunication or whatever," Rusnok said.
Grijalva-Monrreal must have snuck back into the U.S. since her deportation, Rusnok said.
Re-entering the U.S. is a violation of a 10-year ban on entering the country that the agency places on deportees, Rusnok said. Grijalva-Monrreal faces a felony charge for re-entering the country, he said.
Grijalva-Monrreal is in court next week for the meth charges. The immigration charges will be addressed after she's served her sentence for the meth charges.
Brandon Johansson can be reached at 824-7031, ext. 213, or bjohansson@craigdailypress.com.
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