Immigration Court decisions in favor of the release of Rene Lima-Marin, who is in federal custody, were derailed this week when the U.S. Department of Homeland Security filed a notice of appeal, according to Lima-Marin’s attorney.
On Wednesday an immigration judge granted Lima-Marin’s request to be released from ICE custody on bail of $1,500, but Homeland Security quickly filed a notice of appeal, “setting aside the release order and seeking administrative review,” according to a news release from attorney Aaron Elinoff.
Lima-Marin’s wife, Jasmine, was en route to pay the bail Wednesday when his release was “indefinitely” delayed, Elinoff said.
Lima-Marin, originally from Cuba, was sentenced to 98 years in prison for robberies of two video stores in 2000. Eight years later, he was released from prison mistakenly and built a life with a family and a job as a glass installer.
In 2014, the erroneous prison released was discovered, and Lima-Marin was put back in prison. In May, Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour Jr. granted Lima-Marin’s petition for habeas corpus and ordered him released from the 98-year sentence. Gov. John Hickenlooper pardoned Lima-Marin just hours later .
Despite Samour’s ruling and Hickenlooper’s pardon, Lima-Marin remains in federal lockup involving .
Federal immigration attorneys are citing a “firearms violation” related to the 2000 robbery conviction, Elinoff said. A co-defendant, however, was the perpetrator armed with a rifle during the robberies.
Lima-Marin’s legal team will continue its pursuit to free him from “unreasonable and unlawful confinement,” Elinoff said.
