U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested two Mexican illegal aliens earlier this month when they were found working for a paving company in Calais after having previously been deported from the country.
[RELATED: Mexican Alien Pleads Guilty to Illegal Reentry Following Oakland Traffic Stop…]
According to court documents, Calais Border Patrol Agent Matthew Crews was patrolling on the afternoon of November 11 and spotted what appeared to him to be a work crew loading paving equipment.
He noticed that, as he was driving by in his marked vehicle, two of the workers appeared to be alarmed and were dressed in a manner typical of Central American immigrant workers.
Crews parked a few blocks away to observe the workers and saw the two suspicious individuals passing him in a white Ford F250 truck, appearing nervous.
He conducted a traffic stop without incident and told the vehicle’s occupants that he was conducting an immigration inspection.
After the driver showed him a Maine-issued commercial license, Crews determined that he was a U.S. citizen. During his interaction with the driver, he observed that the passengers, whom he had previously noted as suspicious, appeared increasingly nervous.
One passenger, identified as Alfredo Gonzalez-Pelaez, handed Crews a Mexican consular ID card, while the other, Isidro Gonzales-Pelaez, claimed that he left his ID at home.
Crews ordered the driver to wait and told the passengers in Spanish to exit their vehicle. Alfredo attempted to tell Crews, in poor English, that they were U.S. citizens, but, according to court documents, he appeared shaky when speaking.
The Border Patrol agent warned them to tell the truth, and Alfredo reportedly admitted that they illegally crossed into the U.S. via the Tijuana/California border and that they had been living and working in Maine without any immigration documents.
Crews took both men into custody, and they were transported to the Border Patrol station in Calais for processing.
Agents took the suspect’s fingerprints digitally and reportedly determined that Alfredo had previously been deported from California in 2012 and had been convicted of entry without inspection.
Isidoro’s fingerprinting reportedly revealed that he had been previously deported in 2006 from Texas and had also been convicted of entry without inspection.
The criminal complaint did not name the company found to be employing or contracting labor to illegal immigrants and gave no indication that the business would be investigated for the practice.
Read the full criminal complaint here:
