Drug Suspect Free; Jailers Say They Lacked Paper Work to Hold Him

An illegal alien who was indicted on federal drug charges March 15 was released from Theo Lacy Branch Jail in Orange three days later because the Sheriff’s Department was not notified in writing to hold him, authorities said.

Ramon Godinez, indicted along with two other men on federal charges of selling drugs near a Santa Ana school, is believed to have returned to Mexico. Charges by the Orange County district attorney’s office against him had been dismissed after the federal indictment was issued.

That, said sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Richard Olson, meant “we had no legal paper work” to hold Godinez.

But Susan Bryant-Deason, the assistant U.S. attorney in charge of the federal prosecution of Godinez and the other two men, said she had made arrangements with the district attorney’s office to make sure “something like this wouldn’t happen.”

Bryant-Deason said agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms called jail officials, requesting that Godinez be held until he could be picked up Friday morning.

But Olson said that was not enough.

“We can’t hold someone on a phone call,” he said.

Bryant-Deason said: “I thought everything was in order. Next thing I know, the prisoner was released.”

She said she felt sure that Godinez had returned to Mexico.

Godinez, Jose Luis Figueroa, 35, and Raul Rivera, 28, were arrested Feb. 8 and charged by the district attorney’s office with selling drugs near Lathrop Intermediate School.

Because the men were within 1,000 feet of the schoolyard, authorities had the option of prosecuting them under a federal law that could double the possible sentence. So the state charges were dropped when the federal indictment was issued.

Olson said the paper work dismissing the state charges arrived at the jail Thursday afternoon and Godinez was released at 1:30 a.m. Friday.

“There is nobody who wants to prosecute these people more than the Orange County sheriff’s office, but there is no way we can illegally hold someone in jail,” Olson said.

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Mulgrew said he had talked with Bryant-Deason about Godinez. “I thought we had it all worked out, but evidently something fell through,” he said.

Mulgrew confirmed that federal authorities had made a call to sheriff’s deputies at the jail, but that “there was some paper work the jail felt was necessary in order to hold the prisoner.”

“We’re still looking into exactly what happened,” Mulgrew added.

Godinez, Figueroa and Rivera are accused of trying to sell a kilogram of cocaine to an agent from the California Bureau of Narcotics Enforcement in front of Figueroa’s house at 1112 1/2 Broadway in Santa Ana. Other charges in the indictment include illegal possession of cocaine, heroin and firearms, found inside the house.

They face a maximum sentence of 80 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Olson said that Figueroa, who was being held at the Theo Lacy facility on other charges, was released to Modesto authorities on Saturday. Rivera, also being held on additional charges, was released to federal agents Wednesday.