SALT LAKE CITY (AP)—
An 18-year-old man accused of offering another person $200 to beat his pregnant girlfriend in an abortion attempt was among 158 arrested in a two-state gang and immigration crackdown, authorities said Thursday. The four-month investigation focused on individuals in Nevada and Utah who were in the United States illegally and had ties to more than 50 street gangs, said Kumar Kibble, the special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Homeland Security Investigations for the Rocky Mountain region."Those arrest figures makes this the largest enforcement action of its kind carried out in Utah," Kibble said.
The arrests include 125 nationals from Argentina, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico and Peru. Utah's U.S. Attorney Carlie Christensen said 31 of those arrested had been previously deported and now face federal criminal re-entry charges that carry prison terms between two and 20 years.
"Our goal is not just to remove this criminal element from our communities, but from the country," Christensen said.
In one case, officers in Ogden arrested a 35-year-old Mexican national accused of making counterfeit documents from his home. Celso Rodriguez-Valdivia was previously convicted of forgery and deported. He now faces federal charges that include visa fraud and re-entry of a previously removed alien.
Of those arrested, 65 will face immigration proceedings, because despite known gang affiliations, police could not link them to specific crimes, Kibble said.
Ninety-three defendents face a range of state or federal criminal charges that include solicitation to commit aggravated murder, forcible sexual abuse, drug distribution, visa fraud, identity theft and firearms violations. If convicted, those individuals would be deported after serving prison or jail terms.
Mario Rodrigo Garcia, the man accused in the Provo attempted assault of his pregnant girlfriend, pleaded not guilty Monday to one count of first-degree felony criminal solicitation.
Messages left for his public defender, Barbara Gonzales, and Mark Kittrell, Rodriguez-Valdivia's attorney, were not immediately returned Thursday.
Arrests were made in 23 Utah cities, including 29 each in St. George and Provo, 18 in Ogden and 17 in Salt Lake City. Nine were made in West Wendover, Nev.
The crackdown was part of an initiative that pairs local police and gang officers with immigration agents. Since February 2005, the pairings have resulted in 350 Utah arrests.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
