Ex-Ulster inmate admits illegal re-entry to U.S.
Jose Agustin Martinez, 35, faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
KINGSTON, N.Y. » A Mexican citizen with a history of drunken-driving arrests and convictions in Ulster County pleaded guilty Friday to illegally re-entering the United States and faces up to 10 years in federal prison, the Department of Justice said.
Jose Agustin Martinez, 35, also could be ordered to pay a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced by U.S. District Judge Mae A. D’Agostino on March 19, 2018, according to a press release from the department.
Martinez, who was arrested by Kingston police for felony drunken driving in February and later convicted, was taken into federal custody on Aug. 4 while he was awaiting transfer to a state prison, according to authorities.
Martinez previously was deported from the United States to Mexico on May 18, 2016, following a felony conviction earlier that year, in Ulster County, for driving while intoxicated. On Friday, Martinez admitted he returned to the United States without permission following the May 2016 removal, the Department of Justice said.
On Feb. 14 of this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was notified by the Ulster County Sheriff’s Office that Martinez was in the Ulster County Jail, as is that office’s standard procedure, Sheriff Paul VanBlarcum said Friday. VanBlarcum said the jail notifies ICE about anyone incarcerated there who is not a U.S. citizen or was born outside of the United States.
“It turns out this guy was here illegally. People should be happy,” VanBlarcum said.
He said the jail policy is voluntary and “we’ll continue to cooperate because it’s the right thing to do.”
The sheriff said that, “over the course of a year, ICE takes four or five inmates out of our custody.”
Michael Barnett of the Department of Justice said immigrant prisoners generally serve their terms and then are transferred to ICE custody for removal from the country.
“We’re a partner agency,” he said.