An illegal immigrant killed two law enforcement officers in a car accident last December and was only fined $280.
The case was resolved at the end of last month when Roberto Garza Palacios was fined but avoided any jail time, according to a story by the Washington Post.
The prosecution proved that he drove in a “careless and imprudent manner,” but did not reach the level of a “gross deviation” from careful driving or a “reckless disregard” for human life, both of which would be necessary for more serious charges.
Back on Dec. 8, 2017, Carlos Wolff — an FBI agent and legal immigrant from Venezuela — was texting while driving and hit the concrete median on I-270 in Maryland. Sander Cohen — an arson investigator — stopped to help him.
While both of them were standing on the side of the highway, Garza Palacios struck them, sending both off-duty officers over the median and into the traffic. They both died.
Wolff’s widow said the Post that, “It’s ridiculous. He just pays $280, and that’s all he has to do.”
Palacios, a Guatemalan native, is facing deportation after being taken into custody by the Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency on May 3 for overstaying a work visa that expired in 2009, according to ICE officials.
Back in 2015, he pleaded guilty to driving while impaired, and Palacios also served about four months in jail after being arrested for smashing the windows on over a dozen cars and for lighting a couch on fire.
ICE found out he had been arrested and requested Montgomery County, Maryland, to hold him, but he was released anyway.