He was a Criminal Alien when he broke into our country. Now he's just a common criminal. It's unfortunate that we now have to pay his room and board.
Posted on 07/31/2005 7:39:57 AM PDT by southernnorthcarolina
An illegal Mexican immigrant in North Carolina was charged with drunken driving at least five times before a July 16 wreck that killed a Gaston County teacher.
Ramiro Gallegos' driving record is far worse than authorities realized -- five impaired driving charges in five years, including one previous head-on collision.
On Friday, N.C. authorities remained unaware of two out-of-state convictions until informed by an Observer reporter.
Gallegos' history reveals glaring failures in communication, record keeping and enforcement among police, courts and immigration officials.
If the system had worked, Gallegos would likely have been sent back to Mexico in 2002, or jailed for up to two years and given intensive alcohol treatment. Each intervention would have decreased chances that Gallegos would have been on the road -- allegedly drunk again -- as teacher Scott Gardner and his family drove toward Sunset Beach.
"He was just as dangerous as a serial killer ...," says Scott's father, Phil. "What worries me is how many more are out there like him."
Scott's wife, Tina, is in critical condition. The couple's two children survived the crash and are staying with grandparents.
Gallegos, 25, is in the Brunswick County jail charged with murder and DWI. Prosecutors on Monday plan to add habitual drunken driving charges -- a felony he was eligible for more than a year ago.
"Good grief. This is unreal," said U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick of Charlotte, who fired off an angry letter to immigration officials after the wreck. "There has got to be a better reporting system. ... This provides a call to action."
Gallegos' friends and family warned him disaster was coming. Strangers called police when he was on the road.
In a previous wreck, in 2002, Gallegos crashed into an SUV in North Myrtle Beach. Another time, he was so drunk he backed into the patrol car that stopped him for driving 25 mph on a 70 mph stretch of Interstate 40.
Authorities had multiple chances to stop the escalating problem with Gallegos.
But Carolinas judges were unaware of out-of-state convictions so they handed out lighter punishment than they would have if they'd known.
Comprehensive driving records aren't collected in a national database. But the information was available if police, prosecutors or courts had phoned other places where they knew Gallegos had lived.
Gallegos had a Michigan driver's license -- and that state had his record of multiple convictions nationwide. But N.C. court officials say they're so underfunded and overwhelmed with cases that phoning other states for driver histories isn't a priority.
Lack of cooperation between police and immigration officials was another obvious problem in Gallegos' case.
Gallegos was eligible for deportation each time he was arrested. He was entered in computers as an illegal alien in 2000. But immigration officials say they received no requests for information about Gallegos.
Many police departments only delve into immigration status if suspects are involved in felonies. Drunken driving is a misdemeanor -- a lower priority for immigration officers.
"Unless you have a busload or a boatload of immigrants, (officials) are not going to come out," says North Myrtle Beach police Sgt. Sean Downey, who investigated Gallegos' 2002 wreck.
Immigration officials say they count on local police: "We understand the frustration, but ... it is a shared effort," spokesman Salvador Zamora says. "We expect local law enforcement to call and run checks anytime they have questions about somebody's status."
Gallegos grew up in a small Mexican farm town and crossed the border into Arizona in 1998, immigration officials said.
He went to Michigan and obtained a driver's license June 30, 2000.
Fifteen days later, he was charged with drunken driving in Monroe, Mich.
A woman flagged police, reporting that a van had almost hit her head-on, a police report said. Officers followed and saw the van veer into oncoming traffic.
Local authorities alerted immigration, which sent Gallegos back to Mexico, a spokesman said.
Six months later, in January 2001, the U.S. border patrol caught Gallegos in New Mexico -- and sent him home again.
But Gallegos was back in Michigan by March 2001. That's when he pleaded guilty to his drunken driving charge.
Then, he moved to North Carolina to work as a roofer.
In February 2002, police in the Eastern North Carolina town of Shallotte pulled Gallegos for speeding 88 mph in a 55 mph zone. Tests found his alcohol level was 0.16 -- twice the legal limit.
That DWI charge was pending three weeks later when Gallegos was nabbed again.
This time he was cruising North Myrtle Beach with a friend after midnight. Several drivers called 911 when they spotted Gallegos driving on the wrong side of N.C. U.S. 17. He crashed into an SUV driven by an Ohio man, a police report said. Officers found two 12-packs of Bud Lite in his Chevy, including open bottles.
Both cars were destroyed, but the occupants survived. Gallegos pleaded guilty. His sentence: 20 days in jail.
That summer, 2002, Gallegos skipped his court date on the Shallotte drunken driving case. No arrest warrant was issued, so the case was left hanging.
Without a conviction, Gallegos' N.C. driving record appeared clean. And N.C. officials remained unaware of his convictions in Michigan and Myrtle Beach.
About 27 percent of drunken driving charges against Hispanics are dismissed in North Carolina because the suspects don't show up for court, an Observer study found. That's more than four times higher than in cases involving black and white defendants.
Prosecutors can re-open those cases if suspects are found. But a series of failures by Brunswick and Duplin court officials meant the Shallotte case was never reopened -- even though officers would arrest Gallegos twice more.
Gallegos was busted in late 2002. He was driving too slowly on the interstate in Duplin County. He was so drunk, police said, he backed his car into the patrol car and was unable to perform sobriety tests.
Gallegos pleaded guilty in February 2003. On a worksheet to calculate punishment, the judge left blank the box for prior convictions. He gave Gallegos seven days in jail and supervised probation.
"God almighty," says Duplin prosecutor Dewey Hudson. "If we'd known about (other convictions), the court would have treated him a lot more seriously."
This was the earliest moment that might have brought severe punishment for Gallegos. Had he been convicted in the unresolved Shallotte case, the Duplin case would have been Gallegos' fourth conviction -- which qualifies in North Carolina for a felony charge of habitual drunken driving.
In January 2004, police spotted Gallegos cross the centerline near his home in Supply, south of Wilmington. His alcohol level measured 0.24 -- three times the legal limit. Officers charged him with resisting arrest, failing to stop for blue lights and siren, and damaging a patrol car -- plus DWI.
His sentence: 30 days in jail and supervised probation.
For the first time, though, the judge demanded a medical assessment for alcohol abuse. Gallegos attended 90 hours of classes. But the lessons didn't stick.
On July 16, Gallegos started drinking early, a friend told the Observer.
He went out to lunch. And drank more.
He drove home. And drank more.
He drove to the store, and bought a six pack with three friends.
Then, they piled into the cab of a pickup and headed in the direction of the Gardner family.
After the wreck, Gallegos almost evaded authorities. He ran from the scene, through fields and woods, until he and a friend emerged on a secondary road not far away. But police were there.
His alcohol level was 0.22.
From jail, Gallegos phoned his sister.
"Why did you do that?" Virginia Gallegos recalls asking him. "He didn't think of himself or anyone else. ... I feel so bad for the family, really sad."
Ms Myrick voted for CAFTA the other day, which will without doubt bring millions more from places like Guatemala, El Salvador and Nicaragua which have perhaps even worse cultural problems with violence and alcohol than even Mexico, which is saying a lot.
Where she gets off saying anything is beyond me. She just stabbed the people of the Piedmont in the back, and needs to be gone after the next election.
Irony: I was on the way to an AA meeting (nearing my 10 anniversary at the time).
Well, yes but.....................
He's just here to do the work an American won't do..........
Unless I missed it, there is no mention of why an illegal was given a Michigan driver license in the first place.
Another example of how much grief can be avoided if this sort of thing is dealt with properly early on. If they had thrown him out when he tried to get a license, a man would still be alive.
This story should be printed on sandpaper, rolled up, and inserted in the butt of every nitwit legislator that advocates DLs for illegals>
"Unless I missed it, there is no mention of why an illegal was given a Michigan driver license in the first place. "
where I live --Maryland's eastern shore-- I see plenty of NORTH CAROLINA license plates on cars driven by Hispanic men ..what is going on in North Carolina?? is it an illegal haven??
NC ping
On that subject, here in FL it is said that no one will pick tomatoes at these prices but illegals. Or, put another way, we'd have to pay $4 a pound instead of $1.50 if we got rid of the illegals and Americans, who expect better wages, were to perform the labor.
To that twisted logic, I say, so what? I would pay the difference. Why? Because it is cheaper to pay more for the labor/product than all the other costs associated with illegals. Not to mention the lives saved. If you take all the variables into consideration, illegals are a lot more expensive than the piddly amount they save in labor costs.
Oh, wait, that is approaching the problem with logic and common sense. Can't do that.
Everyone blaming each other. Facts are that he should not have been here to begin with though and a man died because of it. In all of this I didn't see one mention about our government needing to secure our borders.
yes, and not just mexicans.
*** JUST ANOTHER ILLEGAL DOING A JOB AMERICANS WON'T DO ***
Perhaps it is because she comprehends the difference between lax law enforcement and free trade...and you don't.
Such is the malady of most anti-illegal immigration zealots, they can't separate illegal immigration from anything else. They see it in every action in the market place and government.
I live in Dallas, Texas. We have no chicken plants, hog farms, tomatoes fields, no lettuce, grapes, peaches, cotton fields etc. None of that.
We damn sure have about 870,000 illegal aliens in the DFW area. We are up to our ears with them. What the buck jobs do THEY have that American Citizens "won't do?"
lying traitorous communist b@$+erd#$.
The "fun" will begin when the Mexican/Central American become impatient to share the wealth and at the same time find an inspiring leader.
He was a Criminal Alien when he broke into our country. Now he's just a common criminal. It's unfortunate that we now have to pay his room and board.
" Mexican/Central American become impatient to share the wealth and at the same time find an inspiring leader."
Every VOTE MUST COUNT..the invasion into northern cities needs how many new DEM voters to control elections seems like 5% maybe less and we are ruled by those invaders special interest groups ..LA RAZA has a plan and it is so obvious and unfortunately very likely to win.
When will the American people start electing folks into the White House & Congress that will do something about this problem? Is everyone so blinded by party loyalty that they really don't care, as long as a Republican is elected?
It's difficult to believe we can trust a government/administration with additional authority and responsibility when they can't or won't enforce our present laws.
Haven't you heard? We have to give the illegals drivers licences, because when they have driver's licences they become safe drivers.
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