Illegal Immigrant To Determine Colorado's Next Governor

Carlos Estrada-Medina
Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter put this heroin trafficker back on the street.

An illegal immigrant just might tip the election of Colorado’s next Governor in favor of the Democratic candidate Bill Ritter, a former Denver District Attorney.

Republican candidate, Bob Beauprez, has attacked Ritter for being soft on illegal aliens, specifically, an illegal alien by the name of Carlos Estrada-Medina, who was arrested in Denver on a heroin distribution charge in 2001.

Denver DA Bill Ritter allowed Estrada-Medina to plea-bargain down to the crime of “Trespassing on agricultural land”, a misdemeanor, Estrada-Medina was granted probation, and thus, was not deported back to Honduras. He went on to sexually assault a little girl in San Francisco.

From Heroin Distribution to Trespassing on Agricultural Land. Why? Ritter said that the main witness in this case is a known drug user and not a credible witness. Does that sound like justification for downgrading the plea to an unrelated misdemeanor allowing him to remain in the U.S.?

Carlos Estrada-Medina is a known heroin trafficker with a criminal record of heroin distribution. He was also arrested in Multnomah County, Oregon, in 1998 for suspicion of delivery and manufacture of the controlled substance.

The result of that arrest was also a plea bargain for which Estrada-Medina received three months of probation. Federal Immigration officials also placed a hold on him so that he could be deported. Estrada-Medina was to have been deported Nov. 11, 1998.

But according to a Rocky Mountain News report, in August 2001, Multnomah County officials received a call from immigration authorities, saying he had not been deported.

No one seems to know why he was allowed to remain in the U.S.

Also, according to a news release issued by William W. Mercer, United States Attorney in Billings, Montana, Estrada-Medina was arrested by a Border Patrol Agent during a transportation check at the Billings bus depot, on March 16, 2005. Estrada-Medina’s fingerprints were entered into the IDENT/IAFIS system. The results of the query indicated that Estrada-Medina had previously been deported from Houston, Texas on December 8, 1999. There is no record of an application for permission to re-enter the United States from the Attorney General or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security.

The news release also indicated that Estrada-Medina admitted the records were his. He further admitted that he is a native and citizen of Honduras and that his true name and date of birth were correct as they appeared on his Honduran National Registration Card.

After his arrest in Colorado, Estrada-Medina apparently left the state and in 2003, ended up in San Francisco, California. He stayed busy. He sexually assaulted a little girl while in San Francisco. He was arrested on suspicion of lewd conduct with a child, a weapons violation, child molestation and sexual battery on a medically institutionalized person.

He was allowed to plead guilty to misdemeanor battery, according to a San Francisco district attorney spokeswoman.

But back to Colorado, Bill Ritter has a track record of plea bargaining over 95% of his cases while his campaign boasts of his high conviction rate. With Estrada-Medina’s extensive and impressive record, did Bill Ritter not bother to check his background upon his arrest and prosecution? Or did Bill Ritter simply not care?

The Bob Beauprez campaign ad that attacks Ritter’s atrocious record showed promise of being effective. Then the story broke that Beauprez’s campaign staff received the information about Estrada-Medina from a source that had access to the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database.

This has resulted in an investigation by the FBI into the Beauprez campaign and how it received the information about Estrada-Medina. The news media in Colorado has remained silent about Ritter’s lack of concern and responsibility regarding Estrada-Medina's crimes after he left Colorado. The news media instead has concentrated on the issue of whether the information leak was legal or not.

One television news station reported that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has determined that the person who accessed the database works for a federal law enforcement agency in Denver, Beauprez knows who the source is, but to his credit, has refused to identify the person.

WHISTLE BLOWER

Beauprez issued a statement on October 20th, 2006 that said in part;

“I think the public does have a right to know that Bill Ritter put a heroin trafficker back on the street who went on to be arrested for the sexual abuse of a child. Bill Ritter has never denied that he did this. Bill Ritter has never accepted responsibly or apologized to the people of Colorado for his failure.

Now Mr. Ritter has embarked on a witch-hunt, demanding that my campaign release the name of our source. Instead of explaining why it is that Bill Ritter put dangerous criminal aliens back into our communities, when they should have been deported, he wants to destroy the life and career of a good man who blew the whistle.

A conscientious member of law enforcement exposed a reckless policy embraced by Bill Ritter and now Bill Ritter is demanding to know his name so he can destroy this person. Well, he won’t be getting it from me.”

The sad thing is the REAL scandal is being ignored by the media, the real scandal is the fact that Bill Ritter believes in and supports the Sanctuary City concept for illegal aliens that the City of Denver operates under.

BILL RITTER’S SELF- RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION

So, what Ritter is truly angry about is that the Beauprez campaign exposed the fact that Ritter allowed an illegal alien with numerous alias’ and criminal charges in different states to remain here in America and drop out of sight to molest a child in California.

What Justification is there for government secrecy of the arrest records and list of aliases of illegals?

Colorado arrest records of U.S. citizens are available to the public through the Colorado Bureau of Investigation for a small fee under $7.

Why are the arrest records of illegals entitled to secrecy but arrest records of U.S. citizens are not?

Why has Bill Ritter not denied the veracity of the information regarding Estrada-Medina’s record?

What harm has been done to the public, or to the government, resulting from the release of the information?

Ritter is more concerned about his political ambitions and his Welcome All Illegal Aliens philosophy than he is about a sexual assault on a little girl.

Ritter has certainly done his part to ensure that Denver is a sanctuary city for illegal aliens.