The recent massive deportation of Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador's infamous biggest security prison has raised doubts about whether the convicted murderer of Augusta University student Laken Riley would be sent out there.
A Georgia judge in November found that Jose Ibarra, an illegal Venezuelan immigrant, was found guilty of a total of 10 counts in connection with the death of a 22-year-old nursing student, and sentenced him to life in prison. Ibarra, 27, attacked Riley and beat her while jogging along the trails on the University of Georgia campus.
“I'm still furious that Jose Ibarra was not sentenced to death in Georgia, because Judge Laken Reilly was right,” Republican Georgia Sen. Colton Moore told Fox News Digital. “This monster should suffer every day for what he did. If we could send him to El Salvador's prison hell, he would be corrupted with misery.
But Moore added that he “he hasn't heard anything about Georgia waiving control of the state's judicial system or handing over prisoners like Ibarra to foreign authorities.”
El Salvador will take hundreds of Venezuelan gang members from us, even if the judge moves to stop the deportation
Jose Ibarra on the left was found guilty on the 10th count in the death of Georgia nursing student Raken Riley. (via Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal Constitution, AP, pool
Chris Swecker, a lawyer and former assistant director for the FBI's criminal investigations division, told Fox News Digital that he believes Ibarra will be deported “very quickly.”
“If we could send him to hell of a prison in El Salvador, he would be corrupted with misery, and I'm everything for that.”
Ibarra, who is currently serving a life sentence after a February conviction by the bench trial, is fighting his conviction in Athens-Clark County, where his official defense attorney is pushing for a new trial. A hearing on the issue is scheduled for June 6th.
Jose Ibarra will listen to an interpreter at a trial in Athens Clark County Superior Court held in Georgia in Athens, Athens, on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. (via Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal Constitution, AP, pool
“The Thorny Case… That's radioactive,” Swecker said. “They will find legal basis for deportation.”
“They will find legal basis for deportation.”
As for the El Salvador prison, it is unclear if the terrorism confinement center, which can hold up to 40,000 inmates, will it be possible to send the thorns there if they are ultimately deported.
The Trump administration recently deported hundreds of illegal immigrants from Venezuelan gangster Tren DeLagua (TDA) and El Salvador after Trump called. Alien Enemy Act of 1798, This makes the deportation of enemy citizens and citizens unhearable.
The prison guards will send exiles from the United States to a terrorist confinement center in Tekolka, El Salvador on Sunday. (President's Press Office via the AP)
Venezuela refused to reclaim its former citizens who illegally entered the United States. This is why the administration sought an alternative place for deportation, Swecker suggested.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the White House did not respond to Fox News Digital's inquiries regarding the possibility that Ibarra would be deported to El Salvador.
Meanwhile, Ibarra's older brother, 29, has ties to the Venezuelan gangster TDA, but is sentenced to four years of service in federal prison after admitting to presenting a fake green card to authorities when Jose was arrested after Riley's murder.
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Images taken from federal court filings include photos that prosecutors say are evidence of alleged connections with the violent Tren de Aragua gang in Venezuela, similar to the alleged false green cards of Diego Ibarra. (Central Georgia Region)
His younger brother, 25-year-old Argenis Ibarra, was sentenced to time in December 2024 after pleading guilty to one count of possession of fraudulent documents.
The brother's female roommate, Losberg Flores Bello, 29, of Venezuela, was sentenced to time in December 2024 after pleading guilty to one count of possession of fraudulent documents.
An illegal immigrant roommate who was deported for killing his brother, Laken Riley
Police wake up Jose Ibarra on February 23, 2024, the day after Raycan Riley's murder. (Coat TV Pool Camera)
All three defendants will be delivered to the ice for deportation, according to the Department of Justice. Diego Ibarra will face deportation after his four years of federal prison sentence.
Court documents show that since Diego alone had a TDA relationship, it is unclear whether any of the defendants will be sent to El Salvador.
Illegal brother of a suspected murderer Raken Riley linked to a Venezuelan crime gang
On March 5th, 2023, MegaPrison, known as the Centre for Counter-Terrorism Countermeasures (CECOT), is standing in Tecolca, El Salvador. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)
“As for his brothers, he must have never been in our country in the first place,” Moore said of Diego and Alzenis. “If our borders had been secured, Laken Riley would still be alive today.
“If he had it, every one of them would risk their lives in prison along with Jose – they deserve less,” Republican Georgia Rep. Mike Collins told Fox News Digital.
Trump calls the wartime alien enemy law of 1798 and targets violent illegal immigrant street gangs.
Jose Ibarra will listen to an interpreter at a trial in Athens Clark County Superior Court, Georgia, Friday, November 15, 2024 in Athens, Athens. (via Hyosub Shin/Atlanta Journal Constitution, AP, pool
“I praise the Trump administration and Pam Bondy's Justice Department for chasing and chasing the Laiken Riley murderer from our country,” he said. “Joe Biden has shipped these Tren DeLagua thugs to Athens and real leadership is sending them back where they came.
Critics of the El Salvador Deportation Act say it is illegal for the Trump administration to deport illegal immigrants to the terrorism confinement center.
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In this photo provided by the Presidential Press Office in El Salvador, the prison guards are said to be Venezuela gang members on Sunday, March 16th, a transfer from the United States, who are said to be Venezuela gang members. (President's Press Office via the AP)
US District Judge James Boasberg recently ordered an immediate halt of deportation efforts, allowing us to consider more time to consider whether Trump's use of alien enemy law is illegal.
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Lauren Brookeisen, senior director of the Brennan Center's Judicial Program, said in an analysis on March 12 that “even if imprisonment in El Salvador does not strip imprisoned citizens of their status, it remains illegal under Trump's own propaganda first-stage conduct.”
“The laws Trump signed during his first term in 2018 include changes to federal sentencing in addition to reforms aimed at improving federal prison conditions. The law requires the federal government to place people in facilities close to the main residences of prisoners.
