Sergio Martinez is accused of assaulting and robbing two Portland women last week in separate incidents. He’s been deported from the U.S. 20 times only to return and commit more crimes.
Multnomah County Sheriff Mike Reese issued the following statement to explain why Martinez had been released.
Last week I learned of a criminal act which victimized a member of our community and left all of us feeling distressed and heartbroken. All of our thoughts and prayers must be with her at this difficult time.
This terrible incident is concerning for everyone. The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office (MCSO) members followed state statute and federal case law. We managed the defendant through criminal procedure. We held the defendant until he could not be legally held any longer. We used the full scope of authority at our disposal.
Prior to his release, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials had not sent a criminal warrant, signed by a judge, allowing MCSO to hold the defendant in jail. Instead, they processed a civil detainer, which they know cannot be legally used in Oregon.
This defendant has a lengthy criminal history. He has been booked into Multnomah County Jail on nine separate occasions since 2008. Most recently, he was released from Multnomah County on July 17, 2017, after serving 31 days in custody. He was released consistent with the orders of the court. No federal or state criminal warrants were present at the time he left our custody.
MCSO has no authority in deportation or issues surrounding illegal reentry into the United States. MCSO holds in custody anyone who has been alleged to have committed a criminal act, or for whom a criminal warrant has been issued, until all charges have been properly adjudicated. MCSO does not hold anyone in custody for civil matters, as per federal and state law.
Federal authorities indicate the defendant in this case is not legally present in the United States and has been deported on numerous occasions. The defendant has been removed from the Country, and has returned to commit additional crimes. Given this defendant's repeated deportations following criminal convictions in the United States, it would help our community to understand how he was held accountable by federal authorities for multiple, illegal reentries.
Local public safety entities, including MCSO, have previously met with the United States Attorney for the District of Oregon, and our local ICE officials, to discuss the legal need for a criminal warrant to hold defendants in a situation such as this. Federal and state law prohibit Oregon Sheriffs' Offices from holding anyone based solely on an immigration detainer.
ICE officials have the ability to ask for a criminal warrant, signed by a federal judge, to keep defendants in custody. If this were to happen, Sheriffs in Oregon would cooperate with the federal criminal warrant until the charges were properly adjudicated. No such warrant was placed on this defendant prior to his release.