Federal prosecutors are fighting vigorously to prevent immigration agents from testifying about their actions during the raid of a Hardin Valley construction site in January.
Two federal agents were required to appear in court Sept. 30 to testify but several last-minute filings from prosecutors led the judge, reluctantly, to put off a decision on whether the agents should appear in court until at least sometime next week.
The defendants, who were arrested on accusations they helped illegal immigrant workers, said in February court filings the charges should be dropped because agents swarmed the private construction site Jan. 13 without a warrant. Short of a dismissal, the defendants want the evidence collected at the site suppressed.
To bolster
their claim, the defense subpoenaed two federal agents who took part in the raid to testify about their actions that morning.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jill McCook thought enough of the defense’s argument that she allowed the two agents to be subpoenaed and required them to testify Sept. 30. Both Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Gabriel Villegas and Enforcement and ICE Officer Anthony Perrone were in court, ready to be called.
But at 9:11 a.m. Sept. 30, less than an hour before the hearing, prosecutors filed a motion to appeal McCook’s ruling, asking U.S. District Judge Katherine Crytzer to decide whether the men should be required to testify, or at least to pause the proceedings while she decides. Prosecutors argued, among other reasons, that having the men testify before the January 2027 trial opens their testimony up to cross-examination during the trial.
Crytzer initially denied the prosecutors' motions, saying they were not properly supported, but the court granted prosecutors an hour to get their house in order and file again. Veteran defense attorneys Wade Davies and David Eldridge both said they had never seen a similar situation.
Following the hourlong break, Crytzer opted to give both sides a day to respond with new motions strengthening their arguments why the agents should or shouldn’t be required to testify.
If Crytzer denies the motion to stay, the agents will be required to testify as early as next week. If Crytzer agrees with the motion to stay, it would not mean the men will never testify, only that they would not testify until she issued an opinion on whether McCook wrongfully ordered the men to testify in the first place.
How we got here
Federal agents raided a construction site across the street from Hardin Valley Academy on Jan. 13. During the raid, up to 25 workers fled while agents were trying to get access to the site, though others were arrested and deported.
Prosecutors say site manager Tyler Wells led an effort to block agents from accessing the site and that his colleagues assisted him. Wells and Omar Bonilla-Serna, the only noncitizen charged in the raid, remain in custody. Alexander Bonilla-Servin, who served as a lookout, and subcontractor Nicholas Pastore were released on bond.
Pastore pleaded guilty in August to a single charge of harboring aliens for commercial/personal gain. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for January. He could serve as much as 10 years in federal prison or receive as little as supervised release and a fine.
Harboring charges often are used to prosecute people who smuggle undocumented workers across the border, not those who hire workers here.
Though a conviction can result in a 10-year prison sentence, federal sentencing guidelines − given to judges to help decide an appropriate sentence − suggest the Hardin Valley sentences would be closer to 33-41 months if the men were convicted.
Tyler Whetstone is an investigative reporter focused on accountability journalism. Email: tyler.whetstone@knoxnews.com; X: @tyler_whetstone; Signal: twhetstone141924.39
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Prosecutors push hard to shield agents from testifying in ICE raid case | Exclusive
