Three people described by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials as “criminal aliens” were arrested Wednesday in Greeley.
Carl Rusnok, spokesman for the agency, said two of the people were sex offenders, a 67-year-old man and his 33-year-old son. Greeley police Sgt. Joe Tymkowych identified them as Francisco Loma and his son, Jose.
Rusnok said the third man, whom he would not identify, is a 24-year-old Mexican national and an active member of the Norteño street gang, which Rusnok said operates in the Greeley area.
The man’s gang membership is documented with the Weld County Court system and with Greeley and Weld County authorities, Rusnok said.
Although the gang member is a permanent U.S. resident — meaning he has a green card — he has a felony criminal conviction for menacing and two misdemeanor convictions for child abuse and third-degree assault, which makes him eligible for deportation, Rusnok said.
The father and son from Mexico were arrested under ICE’s “Operation Predator.”
The gang member was arrested under ICE’s “Operation Community Shield.”
“Working closely with the Greeley Police Department, ICE was able to make arrests in two of our four primary mission areas,” said Jeffrey Copp, special agent in charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Denver.
Jerry Garner, Greeley’s police chief, said the Police Department and ICE have a good working relationship and that anytime his department can remove offenders who are in the country illegally, “We will do it in a heartbeat.”
“The simple truth is that we do not want gangsters and known sex offenders in our community, regardless of their citizenship status,” said Garner.
ICE officials said the 67-year-old man was convicted in 1989 in Los Angeles of sexually assaulting his daughter, then 12. He served three years in prison, according to Rusnok.
His son was convicted in 2003 in Weld County of sexual assault on his 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 27. He received a five-year deferred sentence, said the ICE spokesman.
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
