Sanctuary County Nixed 20-Year Jail Sentence For Illegal Immigrant Drug Dealer, Released Him Despite Detainer

Maryland law enforcement officials suspended a prison sentence for an illegal immigrant convicted of drug distribution and then ignored a detainer request for him, according to 🛂Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

ICE agents apprehended Nahun Ventura Ortiz-Isaguriz, a twice-deported Honduran national living in the U.S. unlawfully, the agency announced in a press release on Thursday. Local officials in Howard County, Maryland, suspended nearly his entire prison sentence after he was convicted for drug distribution, and then released him back into the community despite a detainer request lodged against him.

“Nahun Ventura Ortiz-Isaguriz has been convicted of distributing poison to the residents of our Maryland neighborhoods,” ERO Baltimore acting Field Office Director Matthew Elliston stated. “Additionally, Ortiz had been removed from the United States twice before.”

“Allowing such offenders to remain here allows them to disproportionately target and victimize the members of our migrant communities,” Elliston continued. “ERO Baltimore will continue to prioritize public safety by apprehending and removing the most egregious noncitizen offenders from Maryland.”

Border Patrol agents arrested Ortiz after he illegally crossed into the U.S. near Penitas, Texas, in December 2009, according to ICE. He was served with an expedited removal form and deported back to Honduras later that month.

Ortiz later re-entered the U.S. at an unknown date and location, making him another unknown “gotaway” who had crossed illegally into the U.S. Deportation officers based in Los Angeles arrested Ortiz in August 2011, served him again with a removal order and he was deported to Honduras the following month.