Gov. Maura Healey ordered an inspection of all state-run emergency shelters and a “full review” of the consumption course of after one Dominican migrant was arrested at a web site in Revere whereas allegedly possessing an AR-15 and about $1 million value of fentanyl, the governor mentioned in an announcement.
“It’s outrageous that this individual took advantage of our shelter system to engage in criminal activity,” Healey mentioned in an announcement to the Herald Monday. “I’ve ordered an inspection of all shelter units, beginning with the Revere site, and a full review of our intake processes to determine any additional steps that we can take to prevent criminal activity in shelters.”
Healey issued the order after Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, 28, a migrant from the Dominican Republic within the nation illegally, was arrested Dec. 27 at a High quality Inn in Revere housing migrants.
The primary-term Democrat mentioned her administration has been in contact with native legislation enforcement and federal immigration officers concerning Sanchez’s case.
“This further underscores our broken federal immigration system and the urgent need for Congress and the White House to act on a border security bill to prevent criminals from entering our communities. The people of Massachusetts should not continue to have to deal with the impacts of federal inaction,” Healey mentioned.
Sanchez was arraigned in Chelsea District Court docket late final month on 11 costs, together with 10 firearm possession counts and one associated to possession of almost 5 kilograms of fentanyl, based on court docket data. He was ordered held till the tip of April following a dangerousness listening to.
The inspection and consumption evaluate comes as a rising refrain of lawmakers have demanded extra data on how Sanchez ended up in an emergency shelter system the Healey administration has repeatedly mentioned is simply obtainable to residents from Massachusetts or migrants who had been lawfully allowed into the USA.
In a letter delivered to Healey and Housing Secretary Ed Augustus, all 25 members of the Massachusetts Home Republican caucus questioned how Sanchez was in a position to entry the system given the strict eligibility necessities in place to qualify for providers.
“There are long-term residents of Massachusetts who have been on waiting lists for the emergency family shelter program, yet an individual here illegally, breaking our laws and putting our citizens at risk by running a drug ring with fentanyl and cocaine, somehow got priority over other deserving long-term, lawful Massachusetts residents,” the letter mentioned.
After a 26-year-old Haitian nationwide was charged with raping a 15-year-old migrant lady at a Rockland shelter final 12 months, Healey mentioned everybody who enters state-run shelters is “vetted.”
On the time, Healey mentioned the state had the “security and systems in place,” together with vetting processes, however “it is unfortunate that from time to time, things will happen anywhere, not just in shelter, but anywhere.”
A spokesperson for the Government Workplace of Housing and Livable Communities, which partially oversees the state-run shelter system, mentioned officers conduct warrant checks on shelter residents each 30 days and all residents endure background checks after they apply for providers.
Lawyer John Benzan, a lawyer Sanchez employed to characterize him, beforehand confirmed to the Herald that Sanchez was from the Dominican Republic and a spokesperson for the state’s housing company mentioned Sanchez and his household had been staying on the Revere shelter web site since Oct. 15.
Sanchez was arraigned in Chelsea District Court docket on Dec. 30 and was ordered held final week till the tip of April.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Enforcement and Removing Operations Boston beforehand instructed the Herald the company has lodged an immigration detainer towards Sanchez and the suspect faces deportation.
Of the 11 costs Sanchez faces, 10 are firearm-related, together with unlicensed possession of an “assault weapon,” unlawful possession, lack of a firearms identification card, possession of a large-capacity feeding gadget, and “alien” in possession of a firearm, based on court docket data.
The remaining cost accuses Sanchez of trafficking “200 grams or more” of “heroin/morphine/opium/fentanyl,” although court docket data clarify that Sanchez allegedly had 4.9 kilos of lethal medicine.
Benzan beforehand instructed the Herald that the fees are “just allegations at this point and we are going to fight this case tooth and nail and we are going to hold the commonwealth to the standard that they have to prove every element of every charge to a reasonable doubt.”
