An illegal immigrant from Mexico, who has been deported four times from the U.S., including after a murder conviction in Alabama, was arrested last week in Houston.
Maribel Martinez Garcia, 40, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents Thursday and was found to be in possession of a counterfeit Social Security card and fake lawful permanent resident card, ICE said in a news release. She is being held at the Montgomery Processing Center north of Houston on a charge of illegal reentry, and she faces additional charges.
"This arrest is just another example of the critical public safety function that ICE ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] serves in our local communities while enforcing our nation's immigration laws," said Bret A. Bradford, the field officer director at ERO Houston, in the news release. "Thanks to hypervigilance and outstanding teamwork between ERO Houston and ERO New Orleans we were able to quickly locate this convicted murderer who has repeatedly violated our nation's immigration laws and safely take her into custody before she could hurt anyone else."
Martinez was one of three people arrested by police in Birmingham, Alabama, and charged with capital murder in the Dec. 31, 2006, shooting death of Francisco Ostiquin Cervantes, 32, of Pelham, Alabama, Al.com reported.
Martinez and the two other suspects — Samuel Candido Gomez and Oscar Alejandro Quintero-Barron — pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of murder. Garcia received a 20-year sentence, and after serving three years, she was deported to Mexico. The two men remain in prison in Alabama. It is not known when she reentered the country a fourth time.
ICE said it is not known when Martinez first illegally entered the U.S., but she was first arrested in April 2000 and returned to Mexico in September 2000. On Jan. 1, 2004, she was encountered by Border Patrol agents near Progreso, Texas, and voluntarily returned to Mexico. Just nine days later, she was encountered again by the Border Patrol near Progreso and voluntarily returned to Mexico.