Judicial Watch Sues Department of Homeland Security for Documents on Illegal Alien Who Killed Virginia Nun in Drunk Driving Accident on August 1, 2010

Carlos Martinelly-Montano was Scheduled for Deportation but Was Set Free by Feds

Homeland Security Refuses to Release Results of Internal Investigation

WASHINGTON, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, announced today that it filed a lawsuit on December 2, 2010, against the Obama Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to obtain documents related to an internal DHS investigation of Carlos Martinelly-Montano, an illegal alien who struck and killed a Virginia nun in a drunk driving accident on August 1, 2010 (Judicial Watch Inc. v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (Case No.10-02054)). Montano had been arrested on two prior drunk driving charges. He was placed in the custody of federal immigration officials in 2008 and was scheduled for deportation but was released on his own recognizance pending a deportation hearing that never took place.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano ordered an investigation on August 2, 2010, to determine why Montano's removal process took so long. However, DHS now refuses to release a report documenting the results of its probe. As reported in The Washington Post:

The [Montano] inquiry is complete, but Homeland Security does not plan to make the results public, according to the senior official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the matter.

"It's a document that includes law enforcement sensitivities, so it will not be made public," the official said. He declined to discuss the nature of those sensitivities.

Judicial Watch requested the DHS report on October 12, 2010.  DHS acknowledged receipt of the request on October 21, 2010, and granted itself a 10-day extension to respond.  By law, a response was due to Judicial Watch by November 26, 2010. However, to date, DHS has failed to provide any records responsive to the request or to demonstrate why the records should be withheld, prompting Judicial Watch's lawsuit.

Montano, who entered the country illegally as a child from Bolivia, killed Sister Denise Mosier and critically injured two other nuns while driving drunk in Prince William County, Virginia, on August 1, 2010. He has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and drunken driving.  In October 2008, Montano was arrested for another drunken driving incident and placed in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.  He was scheduled for deportation. However, Montano's deportation hearing was delayed three times and never took place. The Obama administration has ordered federal immigration agents to focus deportation efforts on illegal aliens suspected of terrorist activity and those convicted of violent crimes.

"Now we see the deadly consequences of the Obama administration's decision to fail to enforce federal immigration laws. The Obama administration's irresponsible policy led to the death of Sister Mosier and critical injuries to two other nuns. The Department of Homeland Security's refusal to release the results of its investigation of Montano smacks of a cover-up. The American people deserve to know why a repeat criminal illegal alien scheduled for deportation was allowed to roam free in the United States for almost two years and ultimately kill a nun. And once again, Judicial Watch is forced to go to court to force the 'transparent' Obama administration to follow the open records law," stated Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton.

Visit www.judicialwatch.org to access Judicial Watch's lawsuit against Homeland Security.

SOURCE Judicial Watch