ICE agent hearing begins

By Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Originally published 12:30 a.m., February 1, 2008
Updated 02:05 p.m., February 1, 2008

Voorhis has been placed on unpaid leave from ICE job.

The second-in-command at the Denver District Attorney's office testified today he had an assistant look up information on an illegal immigrant in October 2006 so he could do "due diligence" on the case — not to help the gubernatorial campaign of his former boss, Democrat Bill Ritter.

Assistant District Attorney Charles Lepley said the office needed to confirm for the media whether the immigrant named by Republican Bob Beauprez's campaign in an attack ad against Ritter was the same person who got a plea deal when Ritter was district attorney.

He also wanted to check whether the man was wanted on a warrant for failing to appear in court in Denver, Lepley said.

His testimony came during a hearing in the federal case against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Cory Voorhis.

Prosecutors say Voorhis accessed the National Crime Information Center database to obtain information on illegal immigrants who received plea deals from Ritter, then passed the information on to the Beauprez campaign.

By law, the database, known as NCIC, may be accessed for law enforcement purposes only.

Voorhis is charged with one count of exceeding his authorized access, a misdemeanor.

He has been placed on unpaid administrative leave.

His attorneys are arguing today that the case against Voorhis should be dismissed because he is the target of a selective prosecution.

Three employees of the district attorney's office accessed the same information — even using it to answer questions from the Ritter campaign — and were not prosecuted for it, defense attorney William Taylor says.

In addition to Lepley, the others who obtained the information were Brenda Wellington, executive secretary to District Attorney Mitch Morrissey, and Communications Director Lynn Kimbrough.

All three testified today they accessed the information as part of their jobs, not as a special favor to Ritter.

Kimbrough said she received a phone call from Stephanie Villafuerte, a staffer on the Ritter campaign, on Oct. 10, 2006 — the day the attack ad aired.

Villafuerte's call was among more than 60 the office received around that time about the ad, Kimbrough said.

The advertisement was part of a series of attacks on Ritter for allowing illegal immigrants accused of crimes to plead guilty to a lesser violation of trespassing on agricultural land — a crime that did not lead to automatic deportation.

The Oct. 10 ad featured a man named Carlos Estrada-Medina. It claimed he had been arrested in Denver for heroin use under the name Walter Ramo and was let off on the lesser charge. He then went on to commit a sex crime in California, the ad stated.

Villafuerte and reporters were trying to determine if the ad was true and whether Estrada-Medina and Ramo were the same man, Kimbrough said.

Kimbrough said she spent two days looking through all the databases and files available to her and still could not answer the question, because the man in the ad was known to the Denver office only by the name Ramo.

So on Oct. 12, Kimbrough asked Lepley for help. He then went to Wellington, one of the staff members with access to the NCIC database — a national database that includes aliases used, FBI numbers and Social Security numbers.

Wellington was able to determine that Ramo and Estrada-Medina were the same person.

Kimbrough then shared that information with anyone who had inquired. That likely included Villafuerte, she said.

Throughout the approximately one hour she was on the witness stand, Kimbrough said at least a dozen times that she did not recall specifics of conversations with Villafuerte or reporters. She also said the calls about the ad were not a big deal at the time.

"It carried no special significance one way or another for us," she said.

But asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Anderson if Villafuerte ever asked her to look names up in the NCIC database, Kimbrough responded with a firm "No."

Asked if accessing the database for the Ritter campaign would have been proper, or if that was the reason her office looked up the name, Kimbrough again responded:

"No."

• February 1, 2008

  10:08 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Elwood writes:

  Who cares how the dirt got out, the dirt is the same....Bill Ritter - agent of amnesty.

• February 1, 2008

  10:53 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LoFat writes:

  Same story as the "Pentagon Papers" in the '70's. It benefitted the liberals so it did not matter how the information was obtained. If it is illegal for one, it is illegal for both.

  Either drop the charges against Voorhis, or charge Ritter and his campaign staff and suspend them without pay.

• February 1, 2008

  11:02 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  Spencer writes:

  Right or Left, find out the agents who accessed the information and provided it illegaly and then FIRE THEM. Most people who would do something like this would be fired. No special treatment and it sends a message that politics be damned you follow the rules or you leave.

• February 1, 2008

  11:12 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  LoFat writes:

  They are following the rules on the ICE agent, just not on Ritter and his people. Ritter and his people are getting a pass on the law again. But you are absolutely right. Enforce the law equally.

• February 1, 2008

  11:16 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  vudumom writes:

  I still think this case could fall under the Whistleblower Act.This information clearly showed a reckless disreguard for the public safety of the citizens of Colorado.Ritter and his office were doing, Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap.He should be the one being charged with crimes,because what he was doing was wrong.

• February 1, 2008

  12:28 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  skinny writes:

  This isn't football. It's not about my team (liberal) or your team (conservative...) it's about JUSTICE. Ritter should resign for what he has done to this man and how he inflicted dangerous illegal aliens on all of us. I am a democrat. He did not get my vote.

• February 1, 2008

  12:56 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  outrider writes:

  Here you have two different entities. One doing it's job, the other trying to do a job on the public. Agent Voorhis is doing his job exposing the issues. The two Politicians are doing what they do best abusing privilege for self gain. What did Voorhis do to advance his position nothing, other than expose the truth.

• February 1, 2008

  1:55 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AC writes:

  Uh, people, get a grip. The DA's office *is allowed* to look up the info particualrly in this case to find out who it was who illegally leaked it for political purposes to the Beauprez campaign. The DA investigates crimes, and Voorhis committed a crime, and the DA's office properly investigates who accessed the info.

  In no way does this legitimate inquiry compare to politicizing criminal records like Voorhis and Beauprez did.

• February 1, 2008

  3:30 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  LOGRAVINA writes:

  With Ritter defending himself against charges by the Beauprez campaign of being weak on prosecuting illegal immigrants, he said he was "distressed that federal immigration officials didn't pick up criminals who were illegal immigrants", effectively blaming ICE for crimes committed by illegal aliens. WHAT A BUNCH OF BULL-O-NEE.
  
  It just goes to show that politicians will LIE, CHEAT, AND STEAL to do anything for their own political gain. Even worse than that is that Ritter was our DA elected and then left to enforce the laws of our state. WHAT A JOKE!

  As a senior ICE agent in Colorado, Voorhis was only aware of Ritter's persistent pattern of allowing illegal aliens who were arrested for drug crimes, aggravated felonies, and other serious crimes involving moral turpitude to plead guilty to unrelated lesser charges such as "agricultural trespass", "possession of diazepam", and "possession of burglary tools". Ritter's plea bargains allowed a multitude of criminals to go free without the type of conviction that could allow ICE to deport them. Ritter's behavior continued even after ICE suggested to him while heading up the Denver DA's office that the plea bargains were obstructing justice.

  So Voorhis told the truth about Ritter and his record & claims of being "tough on illegal immigrant criminals" which has now lead to this counterattack by Ritter and his allies which is now on the verge of bankrupting Voorhis, ruining his career, and possibly allowing Pedro Castorena to walk away a free man. THIS IS THE REAL STORY AND TRADEGY PEOPLE...WAKE UP! IF RITTER WAS REALLY A MAN OF THE LAW, HE WOULD NEVER, EVER, ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN!
  
  We can only hope that this ends up being a political disaster for Ritter in the end, despite his attempt to blunt its impact in the last election. The people of the great state of Colorado should not forget this and not re-elect this man for a second term. The tragedy is that it may cost a good man (Voorhis) everything he's worked for and cost the country an exceptional agent and the non conviction of an illegal immigration kingpin in Castorena.
  
  The next thing that should happen is that the people of this great state of Colorado should organize a recall, as Ritter is no not fit to hold the highest office in the state of Colorado!

• February 1, 2008

  5:29 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  buffsblg writes:

  The moronic rhetoric by the anti immigrant faction on this case is ridiculous. As an example of the hypocrisy, they want Ritter prosecuted personally when there is no evidence he individually did anything. HE DID NOT ACCESS NCIC. If we are going to prosecute persons for using this information, then Beaupreaz should be the first one arrested. But since it involved illegal immigrants, the 'throw out all the brown folk" posters are willing to let logic pass them by.

  The second moron argument is that Ritter is persecuting this agent. Ritter is a Democratic governor. The agent is being prosecuted by a Republican U.S. Attorney who works for a Republican Attorney General who is a lap dog for a Republican president. A bit of basic civics here, the state governor does not initiate federal prosecution. There is not one bit of evidence that Ritter caused this prosecution, except the paranoid fantasies of the "vast illegal alien conspiracy" folks, who are just as credible as the UFO freaks. Grow up guys, your hero agent is just a political hack.

• February 1, 2008

  6:28 p.m.

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  outrider writes:

  Moronic is a term you use loosely Buffy. Your statement is only overpowered by your ignorance and by your limited liberal thinking. I did not exclude either Politician in my comment. You see I'm a Independent.

• February 1, 2008

  8:13 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Alive writes:

  Bluffsblg,

  You madam, are the moron here. Now SHUT the hell UP! Ritter did wrong and he knows he did. Stop trying to defend your fellow scum.

• February 1, 2008

  8:37 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  Leonardo writes:

  At the very least, Ritter should be charged with agricultural trepass, then when found guilty, sentence him to life for all of the rapists and drug dealers he let go.

• February 3, 2008

  3:28 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  anteup writes:

  "moronic rhetoric by the anti immigrant faction", do you dream this stuff up as you go? No one said anything about being anti immigration, there's a huge difference between immigration and illegal aliens. Since being here illegally is um... illegal, why do you advocate breaking this law but condemn Voorhis for using NCIC to bring it to the voters attention? What a hypocrite.