Salvadoran man sentenced to over a year in prison after escaping Caroline detention center
CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A Salvadoran man was sentenced to over a year in prison after he escaped a Caroline County detention facility, which authorities say he did to avoid being deported. On Wednesday, Dec. 4, Salvadoran national Dennis Arnoldo Zeledon Hernandez was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for obstructing an agency proceeding, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) first encountered Zeledon Hernandez in July 2016 at the U.S.-Mexico Border, near Hidalgo, Texas. According to the DOJ, he told ICE officials that he feared gang members in El Salvador. Zeledon Hernandez was served a Notice to Appear and a warning that, if he did not do so, a removal order may be issued and he may be arrested and detained by the Department of Homeland Security. Richmond registrar resigns, says violations were ‘more so administrative sloppiness’ than intentional wrongdoings According to the DOJ, under these terms, Zeledon Hernandez was released on bond by an Immigration Judge on Sept. 13, 2016. In May 2018, the Immigration Court mailed Zeledon Hernandez at his address about his master hearing in Immigration Court, which was scheduled for Dec. 9, 2019 in Arlington. According to the DOJ, Zeledon Hernandez was also given this information when he called the Immigration Court hotline. Zeledon Hernandez failed to appear before the Immigration Court on that date, according to the DOJ. The court then ordered he be removed in absentia -- or deported without appearing in court. On May 14, 2023, Zeledon Hernandez was arrested in York under charges of driving under the influence, carrying a concealed weapon and child neglect. According to the DOJ, a Warrant of Removal was issued by ICE after it learned of the arrest. As a result of this warrant, Zeledon Hernandez was transferred to the Caroline Detention Facility in the Bowling Green area of Caroline County, where he was held under ICE custody beginning on May 17, 2023. ‘It’s tragic’: Neighbors react to fire in Chesterfield that displaced 3 people According to the DOJ, on July 2, 2023, Zeledon Hernandez escaped the detention facility. He did so by exiting one of its buildings, running across a field and using a rope made of tied sheets to climb a fence. He then got onto the roof of the facility's administration building, ran across it and jumped down into an adjacent public parking lot before finally fleeing into the woods. Zeledon Hernandez walked for two or three days following his escape until, according to the DOJ, he found a Spanish-speaking man in the parking lot of a restaurant. That man let Zeledon Hernandez use his cell phone to call a friend in North Carolina, who came to pick him up. A fugitive search for Zeledon Hernandez was launched, which reportedly included over 100 members of law enforcement across state, local and federal agencies. Five days after his escape, on July 7, 2023, the U.S. Marshals Task Force arrested Zeledon Hernandez in an apartment complex in Durham, North Carolina.
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CAROLINE COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- A Salvadoran man was sentenced to over a year in prison after he escaped a Caroline County detention facility, which authorities say he did to avoid being deported.
On Wednesday, Dec. 4, Salvadoran national Dennis Arnoldo Zeledon Hernandez was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for obstructing an agency proceeding, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) first encountered Zeledon Hernandez in July 2016 at the U.S.-Mexico Border, near Hidalgo, Texas. According to the DOJ, he told ICE officials that he feared gang members in El Salvador.
Zeledon Hernandez was served a Notice to Appear and a warning that, if he did not do so, a removal order may be issued and he may be arrested and detained by the Department of Homeland Security.
According to the DOJ, under these terms, Zeledon Hernandez was released on bond by an Immigration Judge on Sept. 13, 2016.
In May 2018, the Immigration Court mailed Zeledon Hernandez at his address about his master hearing in Immigration Court, which was scheduled for Dec. 9, 2019 in Arlington. According to the DOJ, Zeledon Hernandez was also given this information when he called the Immigration Court hotline.
Zeledon Hernandez failed to appear before the Immigration Court on that date, according to the DOJ. The court then ordered he be removed in absentia -- or deported without appearing in court.
On May 14, 2023, Zeledon Hernandez was arrested in York under charges of driving under the influence, carrying a concealed weapon and child neglect. According to the DOJ, a Warrant of Removal was issued by ICE after it learned of the arrest.
As a result of this warrant, Zeledon Hernandez was transferred to the Caroline Detention Facility in the Bowling Green area of Caroline County, where he was held under ICE custody beginning on May 17, 2023.
‘It’s tragic’: Neighbors react to fire in Chesterfield that displaced 3 people
According to the DOJ, on July 2, 2023, Zeledon Hernandez escaped the detention facility. He did so by exiting one of its buildings, running across a field and using a rope made of tied sheets to climb a fence. He then got onto the roof of the facility's administration building, ran across it and jumped down into an adjacent public parking lot before finally fleeing into the woods.
Zeledon Hernandez walked for two or three days following his escape until, according to the DOJ, he found a Spanish-speaking man in the parking lot of a restaurant. That man let Zeledon Hernandez use his cell phone to call a friend in North Carolina, who came to pick him up.
A fugitive search for Zeledon Hernandez was launched, which reportedly included over 100 members of law enforcement across state, local and federal agencies. Five days after his escape, on July 7, 2023, the U.S. Marshals Task Force arrested Zeledon Hernandez in an apartment complex in Durham, North Carolina.
