Thursday, March 13, 2014

U.S. v. Morales-Isabarras (9th Cir. - March 13, 2014)

Jaun Morales-Isbarras is a resident of Mexico.  He's not entitled to be in the United States.  We catch him and deport him on December 15, 1999.  End of story.  Right?

Wrong.  We catch him again in the United States in 2001.  Deport him back to Mexico on February 24.

He comes back.  We catch him again.  Deport him on September 4, 2001.

He comes back again.  We catch him yet again.  Quickly this time.  Deported again on September 26, 2001.

The guy's not deterred.  He immediately comes back.  Caught and deported yet again on October 2, 2001. Notice that this is less than a week (!) after he was previously deported.  For the fourth time.

Morales-Isbarras returns again.  Caught and deported again.  This time on May 18, 2003.

You know what happens.  He returns.  He's caught again.  This time -- the seventh time being the charm, apparently -- we charge him with illegal reentry.  So in November 2003, he gets to stay in the United States for a spell.  Sentenced to 21 months in federal prison.

Which he serves.  He gets released in May of 2005, and is immediately deported (again) to Mexico.

Do I really have to tell you what happens next?

Of course not.  He comes back.  Is caught in August of 2006.  Indicted yet again for illegal reentry.  Pleads guilty, and is sentenced to 24 months in prison.  Gets released from prison in July 2008, and we deport him again to Mexico.

Guess what?

Yep.  He's caught again in September of 2012.  This time in Arizona.

I'll not go into the procedural morass of the resulting charges.  Suffice it to say that the only substantive charge against him in Arizona is a misdemeanor (!) -- improper reentry -- for which he gets 18 months, and then he's transferred back to California for violation of supervised release (imposed for one of his previous illegal reentry offenses), and he gets another 18 months for that.  So that's another three years total in prison.

The Ninth Circuit affirms all of this.  Which means that Morales-Isbarras will hang out in the U.S., in prison, until the middle or so of next year.  At which point he'll again be released and deported to Mexico.

Bets on what happens next?