McKee responds after criticism of Guatemalan detainee charged with molestation set free

PROVIDENCE – Gov. Dan McKee says the state had "no choice" when it released a Guatemalan man accused of child molestation who was wanted by immigration authorities.

In a statement issued by his office, McKee accused the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office of leveling "false" allegations and Attorney General Peter Neronha of "unfounded" criticism of the McKee administration's actions in releasing Manuel Garcia Dela Cruz and said Neronha should have known better after having a role in the legal case that established the policy the state followed.

Responding to an ICE statement last Thursday that accused Rhode Island authorities of ignoring an ICE detention order, the statement by the governor's office said McKee reviewed ICE's accusation with the Department of Corrections and the sheriffs and "found it to be false.

"Far from ignoring' ICE’s detainer, the Division of Sheriffs notified ICE on April 26, 2023, that Mr. Garcia Dela Cruz had posted bail and would soon be released by the Rhode Island District Court. The responding ICE agent said that ICE was short staffed and would not be able to pick up Mr. Garcia Dela Cruz.

"The governor and Division of Sheriffs are gratified that ICE has resolved its staffing issues and was able to take Mr. Garcia Dela Cruz into custody over the weekend," the McKee statement said.

But at the time, "the Sheriffs’ Division had no choice but to honor the court’s bail order and release Mr. Garcia Dela Cruz from its custody," the statement said.

The McKee team based that conclusion on a federal court decision, in a case known as Morales v. Chadbourne, that "Rhode Island cannot hold a person in custody based upon an ICE detainer alone; to do so could violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the United States Constitution and expose the State to liability."

As U.S. attorney at that time, the McKee statement said, Neronha had a role in the case.

On WPRO-radio a day earlier, Neronha said: "Ask the governor ... The last I checked, the person who runs the Department of Public Safety and the Department of Corrections, which is where this problem took place, is our governor, and that's the person [from whom you] should be demanding answers."

After the McKee statement, Neronha Tweeted: "My memory is fine... I know the case Gov cites...We did our job. Whether the Gov’s agencies did theirs was the question the media raised three days ago but went unanswered. I’m glad the Gov has finally - finally - answered that question."

Attorney general's office details arrest, court process

Providence police charged Manuel Garcia Dela Cruz with first- and second-degree child molestation on March 13, 2023.

A Superior Court judge initially ordered him held without bail and scheduled a bail hearing. The state asked the court to continue to hold the defendant without bail.

On April 26, 2023, over the state's objection, state District Court Judge J. Terence Houlihan set bail at $50,000 with surety. The defendant posted 10%, or $5,000, that day and was released.

The state subsequently presented the case to a grand jury. On Sept. 11, 2023, the grand jury returned an indictment charging the defendant with one count each of first- and second-degree child molestation. A judge released him again on the same bail.

ICE responds to release

What happened next is at the heart of the controversy.

On Feb. 15, the Boston office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced that on Feb. 6 it had arrested the Guatemalan man charged with child molestation, and said Rhode Island authorities "ignored ICE detainer and released the Guatemalan national."

“This Guatemalan national has disregarded U.S. immigration laws and has been charged with horrific crimes against a Rhode Island child,” said ERO Boston Field Office Director Todd M. Lyons.

According to the ICE statement, its "Enforcement and Removal" arm lodged an immigration detainer with the Adult Correctional Institutions in Cranston against the Guatemalan citizen shortly after his arrest.

Neronha said state prosecutors argued at the bail hearing last April that the man should be held without bail on grounds he posed a danger to the community and was a flight risk. They were overruled by the judge.

"The defendant apparently posted that bail and was released directly from the courthouse notwithstanding the lodged federal immigration detainer. Plainly, that should not have happened, and there should be a review by the Department of Corrections and the Department of Public Safety of why it did," Neronha said.

In response, Department of Corrections spokesman J.R. Ventura said, “The individual in question was discharged from court, not from the ACI.

"When inmates leave our custody to go to court, they are remanded to the custody of the Sheriff’s Office for transport. We are exclusively responsible for custody at the ACI. It is the court who decides what happens to inmates and their sentences.”

"From what I understand,'' Neronha told WPRO, the Guatemalan man "was released by the sheriff[s] from the courthouse rather than being taken back to the ACI, where he would've been discharged ... unless the ACI honored the federal immigration detainer, which was lodged in the system."

The state Sheriff's Office declined direct comment.

Senate Republican asks: Error or policy?

The initial lack of answers led House and Senate Republican leaders to question the state's policy concerning people in the country illegally and, more specifically, the Guatemalan national charged with first-degree child molestation, and with an active ICE detainer, who was released on surety.

“This massive failure significantly increases the need for clarification of the state’s policy regarding illegal migrants with active detainer orders. Was this incident an egregious error or a matter of policy?" Senate Minority Leader Jessica de la Cruz asked Thursday.

She questioned whether the Department of Corrections has a policy of "not honoring federal immigration detainers.”

"We call on Governor McKee to act in the best interest of Rhode Islanders by immediately clarifying the state’s policies and sanctuary status regarding illegal migrants and to end the very real threat to public safety from a decade-old mandate stifling collaboration of local, state and federal law enforcement agencies," she said.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Guatemalan detainee released from RI court leads to questions;