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Illegal immigrant arrested in Massachusetts migrant motel with AR-15, kilos of fentanyl

Flint McColgan and Joe Dwinell, Boston Herald on

Published in News & Features

A Dominican illegal immigrant staying at a migrant motel in Revere, Massachusetts, is being held in jail after being charged with 11 counts including possession of an AR-15 and nearly 5 kilos of fentanyl with an estimated street value of $1 million.

“Illegal guns and drugs have no place in the city of Revere,” Mayor Patrick Keefe, Jr. said in a statement shared with the Boston Herald.

“This individual was preying upon vulnerable people while threatening the safety and wellbeing of our entire community,” Keefe’s statement continued. “The City of Revere and the Revere Police Department will continue to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth and work to protect every person that calls Revere home.”

The Quality Inn where the suspect was staying “is closed to the public,” the Herald confirmed by calling the front desk. It is used as a temporary migrant shelter, multiple sources confirmed.

The facts surrounding the case of Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, are murky as Chelsea District Court Judge Jane D. Price on Thursday ordered nearly all court documents impounded after finding Sanchez dangerous and sending him to jail until the end of April.

But the criminal complaint listing all the charges show a very serious case against Sanchez. And more details are likely to emerge at a probable cause hearing scheduled for Friday.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were present during Thursday’s hearing. A federal source tells the Herald that the agency has a detainer on Sanchez.

Of the 11 counts listed, 10 of them are firearm-related. The charge of unlicensed possession of an “assault weapon” is compounded with a slew of related charges including illegal possession, lack of an FID card, possession of a large-capacity feeding device and a charge that indicates Sanchez’s documentation status: “alien” in possession of a firearm.

The remaining charge is “trafficking in 200 grams or more” of “heroin/morphine/opium/fentanyl.” The “200 grams” is just a level indicator, as the complaint makes clear that Sanchez allegedly possessed well in excess of that number — 4,995 grams of the deadly drug, or just five grams short of five kilograms.

The arrest is an indicator of poor policy to at least one immigration legal observer.

“The state has failed to provide adequate supervision at these hotels to keep other migrants safe,” Jessica Vaughan, the director of policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, told the Herald. “They are becoming safe houses for drug dealers.”

She cited national border confusion and lax enforcement for the crime.

“The problem is the borders have been open without any vetting and that’s attracting migrants looking for new markets for drugs. The existence of these migrant hotels and sanctuary policies is an open invitation to set up shop in these shelters,” she said.

 

More than half of the charges will have to be indicted and kicked up to the Superior Court level, as they carry the note that the District Court has no final jurisdiction over such serious charges.

Sanchez’s privately retained attorney John Benzan confirmed to the Herald that his client is from the Dominican Republic but either did not know or did not say how long he has been staying at the shelter.

He said the charges are “just allegations at this point and we are going to fight this case tooth and nail and we are going to hold the Commonwealth to the standard that they have to prove every element of every charge to a reasonable doubt.”

He said that he’s waiting for ballistic and drug analysis to come back from the state laboratory until he’s willing to say more on the charges.

“Until then,” he added, “they are just blanket allegations and assertions.”

The state’s controversial right-to-shelter law and use of migrant motels as extended housing have come under blistering attack with Gov. Maura Healey as the main recipient. This also hits as sanctuary cities — from Somerville to Boston — have confused how Massachusetts will, or will not, work with immigration officials in the Trump administration.

Especially when it comes to illegal immigrant criminals and suspects.

The state Executive Office of Housing & Livable Communities has evicted Sanchez from the Quality Inn.

“There is zero tolerance for criminal activity in EA shelters. We took immediate action to terminate this individual from the EA system, and we confirmed with federal immigration officials that they have lodged a detainer,” a spokesman for the agency said. “We’re grateful to the Revere Police Department and Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office for their swift response.”

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(Herald reporter Chris Van Buskirk contributed to this report.)

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