An illegal immigrant with a lengthy criminal record who has previously been deported from the United States is now facing second-degree murder charges in Las Vegas.
Jorge Miranda, a 46-year-old immigrant from Ecuador, is facing murder and other charges for allegedly selling fentanyl to a 45-year-old man who later died of an overdose, KLAS reported.
Police say Miranda was deported from the United States in 2016 but re-entered the country illegally at an unknown time.
Detectives executed a search warrant at Miranda’s home in February after receiving a tip from the family of the victim, who died of a drug overdose. The family showed police text messages on the victim’s cellphone to a man named “John Fenty” who was arranging drug sales.
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Jorge Miranda (Clark County Detention Center)
An undercover officer used the victim’s phone to arrange a reunion with Miranda, who then met with the officer and allegedly sold him 20 fentanyl pills for $400. Police also noticed that Miranda had a gun in his pocket during the meeting, but illegal immigrants cannot obtain a concealed carry permit by law.
During a search of Miranda’s home, police found drug packaging materials, cocaine, fentanyl, and four firearms in a Ninja Turtles lunchbox. Police determined Miranda had more than 174 grams of fentanyl, more than 243 grams of cocaine, and more than $19,000 in cash in his home, KLAS reported.
Miranda had two previous warrants out for his arrest, including one in 2016 when he was stopped for driving 30 miles per hour over the speed limit and arrested for possession of marijuana with intent to sell, according to the report. At the time, Miranda only had an Ecuadorian passport and no driver’s license, but he was released the next day, the report noted.
The second warrant, according to the report, was for an incident that occurred just five days before his arrest on the marijuana possession charge, in which Miranda was suspected of driving without a license.
Las Vegas Strip from September 2022 (Gabe Ginsburg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Miranda was first admitted to the United States in 1988 but violated the terms of his admission on several occasions since then, according to the report.
In 1997, Miranda was convicted of robbery and petty theft in Las Vegas, and in 1998 in Clark County District Court of grand theft.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ordered Miranda detained and asked the agency to notify them before he was released from the Clark County Detention Center.
Despite this, the Las Vegas Police Department told KLAS that it does not conduct Miranda immigration checks, and since 2019 has not participated in 287G, a program that allows local police to work with federal immigration authorities to deport undocumented immigrants.
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According to the report, Miranda was indicted by a grand jury on 17 felony charges, including second-degree murder, carrying a concealed firearm or other deadly weapon, possession of a short-barreled shotgun, two counts of trafficking in a controlled substance, two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, two counts of sale of a controlled substance, four counts of possession or possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and four counts of use or possession of a firearm by a person committing a drug-related crime.
Miranda has been in custody since his arrest, with bail set at $250,000 and high-level electronic monitoring. Miranda’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 11.
