4th vandalism suspect released

Yield passport, Chilean held in police cars’ torchings told

One of four Black Lives Matter activists arrested last month by federal authorities in the firebombing of police cars walked out of the Pulaski County jail Wednesday after being freed on pre-trial release by U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe J. Volpe.

Aline Espinosa-Villegas, 24, was arrested last month with fellow activists Brittany Jeffrey, 31; Renea Goddard, 22; and Emily Nowlin, 27, on charges of conspiracy, possession of destructive devices, and malicious destruction of property belonging to an entity receiving federal funding (i.e. a police department) in connection with the firebombing of an Arkansas State Police vehicle on or about Aug. 28 and the burning of a North Little Rock police vehicle on Sept. 3. The four women made an initial appearance in court Dec. 17, after which Volpe ordered all but Espinosa-Villegas freed on pre-trial release.

Volpe ordered Espinosa-Villegas, a Chilean national, held after the U.S. attorney’s office requested she be detained over questions about her immigration status. On Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stacy Williams told Volpe during a bond hearing for Espinosa-Villegas that no objections remained to her release, provided one of the conditions be that she surrender her Chilean passport until the case is resolved.

“Surrender her passport, electronic monitoring with curfew,” Williams said. “Drug testing and treatment if deemed necessary and mental health treatment, your honor.”

“We’ll start with an assessment,” Volpe said. “Surrender her passport, you asked for curfew and electronic monitoring, is there anything else?”

“Drug assessment and

testing,” Williams said.

Williams noted that Espinosa-Villegas has a job locally and said her curfew would need to be coordinated with her employer to allow her to continue working.

Other conditions of her release included that she stay out of further legal trouble, submit a DNA sample if asked, and maintain her current contact information unless authorized to make any changes.

“We want to establish a relationship of communication with you, your pre-trial officers and your attorney, OK?” Volpe said. “My order is not designed to punish you but to give you structure so that you are in the best possible position to defend yourself on these very serious charges.”

Volpe also ordered that Espinosa-Villegas maintain her employment, have no contact with her co-defendants, arrange for a mental health assessment and report any contact with law enforcement that might any occur.

“I’m not going to revoke you most likely if you get a traffic ticket, but I might revoke you if you don’t let your pre-trial officer know about it,” Volpe said.

The judge also warned Espinosa-Villegas to stay away from firearms, other weapons, or any destructive devices. He told her that a violation could subject her to an additional 10 years in prison in addition to any penalty she might face if convicted of the current charges.

“Remember, you’re in Arkansas and you might get in a vehicle or other things where other people may lawfully possess firearms,” V0lpe said. “You can’t have firearms near you so I want you to make sure you stay far away from those.”

Volpe warned that any infractions could land Espinosa-Villegas back in jail until the case is resolved, which he said could take as long as three years.

“Nobody wants that,” he said.

If convicted on the charges, Espinosa-Villegas and her co-defendants could be sentenced to a federal prison term ranging from five to 20 years.