By: Associated Press//October 18, 2011//
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Federal immigration officials say they won’t get involved in a work release sentence for an illegal immigrant in Milwaukee County.
Armando Rodriguez-Benitez was recently sentenced to 11 months in jail for driving drunk the wrong way on a Milwaukee freeway. Judge Jeffrey Wagner sentenced the defendant to work release privileges, even though Rodriguez-Benitez is in the country illegally. Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke notified the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, hoping that Rodriguez-Benitez would be deported immediately.
Commenting generally about similar cases, ICE field office director Ricardo Wong in Chicago tells the Journal Sentinel that the agency can’t interfere with a sentence that a judge imposes — even if it’s a work release sentence.
Information from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com