Celebrated Illegal Immigrant Arrested for Home Invasion

Since 04-14-06

BOSTON, April 13, 2006

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/LegalCenter/story?id=1838675&page=1

A homeless, illegal immigrant from Mexico, whose story of secretly living inside his old high school in Minnesota prompted an outpouring of sympathy and donations, has been arrested on home invasion charges in Boston.

Francisco Javier Serrano, 22, was embraced by many in Minnesota last year after they learned he had spent weeks hiding at Apple Valley High School, foraging for cafeteria food and showering in the locker room.

A wealthy developer was so moved he provided him with money, an immigration lawyer, and a rent-free apartment overlooking downtown Minneapolis.

Immigration officials, however, ordered Serrano back to Mexico and believed he had boarded a plane on Jan. 5.

Two weeks ago, police arrested him in an apartment in Boston's North End after they found him, with a knife, in a struggle with the tenant, The Boston Globe reported today.

Serrano remains in Suffolk County Jail facing charges of home invasion.

"I'm absolutely shocked," said Rochelle Barrett, who along with her husband, developer Basim Sabri, had hired an immigration lawyer for Serrano. "I never saw this side of him. I never thought he could be capable of doing something like this."

The office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minnesota does not know how Serrano got to Boston, said spokesman Tim Counts. Counts said the agency expected to gain custody and deport him.

A federal immigration judge had granted Serrano permission to leave the United States voluntarily by Jan. 5. Now officials suspect he never boarded the plane after waving goodbye to supporters and journalists who saw him off at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Immigration officials received a tip Monday that Serrano was in Boston. Counts said Boston police had provided authorities with Serrano's fingerprints, which helped confirm his identity.

Because Serrano has no history of violence and did not hurt the tenant, prosecutors expect to downgrade the charge of home invasion to breaking and entering, said David Procopio, spokesman for the Suffolk district attorney.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for April 28. If convicted, he could face up to 2½ years in the County House of Correction. After serving the time, he would be deported, Counts said.

Serrano moved from Mexico to Minnesota in 2002 to live with his father. He fell in love with the United States and wanted to stay, go to college, and get a good enough job so he could send money to his family in Mexico, his mother, Guadalupe Flores, told the Globe by telephone from her home in Mexico City.

His visa was for six months, but he stayed. When his father moved from Minnesota to Connecticut, Serrano followed, but left when the two had a falling out, his mother said.

"He decided to live his life on his own," she said, crying. "But he did it very badly."