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BROOMFIELD, Colo. – A man who has been deported several times and convicted of DUI on multiple occasions is facing new charges after he reportedly killed a mother and her son in a car crash that police say is alcohol-related, according to reports.
Jose Menjivar, who also goes by Jose Guadalupe Menjivar-Alas, is an illegal immigrant who has been deported four times prior to the double traffic fatality in December, according to an ICE spokesman. He was also waiting for a jail bed from a recent alcohol-related driving conviction when he crashed into the pair’s vehicle, the Denver Post reported.
Menjivar is charged with vehicular homicide and driving under the influence in the deaths of a mother and her son in a crash near Broomfield High School on Dec. 12, 2023. He appeared in court virtually from the Broomfield County Jail on Thursday as a judge set his bail at $250,000.
According to court records, Menjivar had four previous alcohol-related driving offenses that go back to 2007 in Boulder County. He had been sentenced in the most recent case just four days prior to the Broomfield double fatality.
Menjivar pleaded guilty to two charges of driving ability impaired and one charge of driving under the influence, as well as a harassment charge, District Attorney spokesperson Shannon Carbone said in an email to the Denver Post.
(Editor’s note: Click here to understand the difference between DUI, DWI, and DWAI under Colorado law.)
Despite prosecutors arguing that Menjivar should be sentenced to a year in custody in that case, Carbone said Judge Zak Malkinson — who previously worked as a defense attorney — sentenced him to work release and probation and allowed the defendant to wait for a bed out of custody, according to court records.
“The prosecutor correctly believed this defendant was a danger to the community,” Carbone said. “Instead, the Judge ordered 365 days of work release. The sentence, in addition to work release, included two years of probation and other requirements. The Court allowed the defendant to wait out-of-custody for a bed in the work release program — over our office’s objection.”
Following the Dec. 12 double fatality, Menjivar was transported to a local hospital for treatment. Three days later he was medically cleared and the Bloomfield Police Department arrested him.
Menjivar was booked at the Broomfield County Jail on the charges of DUI, vehicular homicide from reckless driving and vehicular homicide caused by DUI and was designated a habitual traffic offender, Fox News Digital reported.
On Dec. 12, Melissa Powell, 47, was driving a Mazda CX-5 with her son Riordan Powell, 16, riding in the vehicle as a passenger. Menjivar was driving a Toyota Tundra that crashed into the Powells, killing them both.
Police believe excessive speed and alcohol were primary collision factors.
Steve Kotecki, a public affairs officer with ICE’s Denver field office, said Menjivar had also been deported from the U.S. four times since 2009.
“ICE records show that (Menjivar) has been previously removed and has no regard for immigration law,” Kotecki said. “As part of its routine operations, ICE targets and arrests noncitizens who commit crimes and other individuals who have violated our nation’s immigration laws. All noncitizens in violation of U.S. immigration law may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States, regardless of nationality.”
On April 14, 2009, an immigration judge issued a final order of removal for Menjivar, Kotecki noted.
His removals from the U.S. were in June 2009, June 2012, November 2014 and January 2015, reported the Denver Post.
Despite being deported, Menjivar continued to make his way back into the country.
As a result of the Broomfield crash, ICE Denver lodged an immigration detainer with Broomfield County on Dec. 18, 2023, Kotecki confirmed.
ICE told Fox News Digital that Menjivar is a citizen of El Salvador.
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