More Illegals Nabbed by Sheriff Arpaio's Posse

Since 05-19-06

05.17.06

http://www.kpho.com/Global/story.asp?S=4919557&nav=23Ku

(Phoenix, AZ.) - Ignoring all the warnings by Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio including the promise of jail time for illegally entering the United States through Arizona, more illegal immigrants were nabbed by the Sheriff's posse detail early Wednesday morning. They were found in the bed of a pickup truck, hidden by a blanket.

Six illegal immigrants plus the driver were taken to jail at 2:15 p.m. making a total of 23 illegals found by the Sheriff's posse operation in the last 36 hours.

Today's load of immigrants was in the back of a white pickup Chevy Avalanche with California plates traveling in excess of the speed limit on Old Highway 80 near Gila Bend, west of the city of Phoenix about 5:00 a.m.

Deputies and posse stopped the vehicle on the speeding violation and then questioned the driver, a U.S. citizen. Shortly thereafter, he and six others were arrested under the new state law charging smugglers and their customers with conspiracy to commit a crime.

Currently the Sheriff says there are 169 people booked into his jails for conspiring to enter the country illegally, a federal misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a new Arizona felony law punishable by up to three years in prison.

"They keep on coming and I keep on putting them where they should be - in jail for violating a state and a federal law," Arpaio says.