Federal immigration agent Cory Voorhis sat at the defense table in federal court Tuesday, but opening statements by his lawyer indicated that the legal team would try to put the actions of Gov. Bill Ritter and the city of Denver on trial.
Bill Taylor, attorney for the special agent, said his client was “shocked, angered, and yes, bewildered,” when he read statements by Ritter, then a candidate for governor, in an August 2006 newspaper article saying that when he was Denver District Attorney his office had always been tough on illegal immigration.
Voorhis’ experience as an immigration agent, who had also worked at the Denver County Jail for three years, was that illegal immigrants were regularly pleaded out by Ritter’s office from the crimes they actually committed, which could lead to deportation, to a fictional charge of agricultural trespass – a non-deportable offense. (Records show this plea was given 152 times – with both illegal immigrants and U.S. citizens – from 1998 through 2004).
“Defense attorneys asked the jail to put immigration holds on their clients because they would get better deals,” Taylor told the jury, and an alternate, made up of nine men and four women. “U.S. citizens claimed to be illegal immigrants to get a better deal.”
So Voorhis, Taylor said, picked up the phone and called the congressional office of Bob Beauprez, who was running against Ritter for governor.
Eventually, Voorhis met with Beauprez campaign manager John Marshall and information disclosed by Voorhis made it into a Beauprez campaign ad. One ad featured Walter Ramo, an illegal immigrant who pleaded to agricultural trespass in Denver after being charged with possession with intent to distribute heroin. Later, he was charged with molesting a minor in California.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Greg Phillips said Voorhis used a restricted federal database to help Beauprez’s campaign. That led to the two federal misdemeanor charges Voorhis faces now.
Phillips asked the jury to try and ignore the often explosive issue of illegal immigration, plea deals made by Ritter’s office and the politics between Beauprez and Ritter – except when it came to Voorhis’ intent.
“What was in his mind?” Phillips said to the jury
Taylor argued that Voorhis didn’t look up or give out information from the database that was unauthorized. An indication of that, Taylor said, was that Voorhis knew his searches could be tracked but still used his own database sign-on, making no effort to cover his tracks. Additionally, the Beauprez campaign, Taylor said, ultimately had to hire a Texas investigator to substantiate that Ramo, using an alias, was the same person as the man arrested in California.
The trial is expected to last another week. Marshall is expected to be called to testify by the prosecution today. Gray Buckley, the former inspector in charge of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation’s crime information center, is expected to be called by the defense.
Karen Crummy: 303-954-1594 or kcrummy@denverpost.com
