CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- Pedro Reynaldo Tun has been convicted of drunk driving five times and deported twice, but is back in a Colorado jail again.
Tun says he has lived illegally in the U.S. since he was 13.
"I'm here alone and I like to drink," he said through an interpreter in a jailhouse interview with CBS Denver.
In one earlier case in Douglas County, he was charged with vehicular homicide when a passenger in his car was killed during an accident.
Asked about another of his drunk driving convictions, Tun reasoned that, "I wasn't driving drunk, I was just over the limit."
Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler's office recently secured the fifth DUI conviction of Tun and earlier this year, a judge sentenced Tun to the maximum: about 15 and a half years in jail.
But Brauchler estimates with "good time" and other sentencing provisions, Tun could end up serving less than a third of that sentence before he is released, possibly to be deported again.
If that happens, said Brauchler, "Does anybody think he's not coming back? Why would you have any hope of that?"
"If someone wants to come into our country from the southern border they just do," said Brauchler. "There's very little we can do to dissuade or stop them."
"This is a guy who was spreading out his drunk driving all around the metro area," he continued.
During his jailhouse interview, Tun said he paid "coyotes," human smugglers, to help him sneak back into the United States after both deportations.
"One time it was easy, the other time it wasn't," said Tun.
He said he paid the smugglers $8,000 in one case and $5,000 in the second. Asked if it was difficult to cross back into the U.S., the father of four said, "Not really."
Tun said he was aware of President Donald Trump's plan to build a wall along the U.S.- Mexico border, but said he did not think it would really stop the illegal border crossings.
"No. You know who will benefit is the coyotes because they are going to charge more," he said.
Brauchler said cases like Tun's leave Coloradans angry and fed up. "There's no more patience or forgiveness. People get outraged and they are entitled to get outraged."
He estimates that past jail and prison stretches for Tun, coupled with future incarceration and prosecution costs, will likely mean Colorado taxpayers will spend about $1 million on Tun. Brauchler said cases like this are, "for most Coloradans. an eye opener and shocking."
article...
Comment