The state/region in brief
Posted on Thursday, July 24, 2008
Man in county jail wanted in California
A California murder suspect whose identity was discovered at the Benton County jail has refused extradition, sheriff’s officials said Wednesday.
The suspect’s identity was discovered Saturday when his fingerprints were checked in an immigration database at the jail, sheriff’s Capt. Tom Brewster said.
The man identified himself as Yovani Roberto Cortez. However, the database showed that Cortez is really Ruben Perez, who is wanted in Garden Grove, Calif., on a charge of murder, Brewster said. Perez is wanted in the April 18, 2001, death of his ex-girlfriend, Rocio Leon, according to the Associated Press. Brewster said the jail has access to the database because it’s part of a program where staff are trained and authorized to enforce federal immigration law. Perez is an illegal alien, according to the database, Brewster said. Perez has refused extradition to California, prompting authorities in Orange County to seek a governor’s warrant to bring him back to the state, Brewster said. A sheriff’s deputy arrested Perez early Saturday on a charge of driving while intoxicated.
— ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE Booneville hospital dedication today The Booneville Community Hospital will dedicate a new $ 18. 5 million facility with state-of-the-art emergency and surgical care, 25 private rooms and outpatient services at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2 p. m. today. The hospital serves the areas of Logan, southern Franklin and western Yell counties and provides the only emergency room between Danville and Fort Smith. A grand opening will be held from 2-5 p. m. Saturday and will include a silent auction to benefit the Booneville Community Foundation.
— ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE 20-year sentence upheld for man, 73 A federal appeals panel has upheld a 20-year prison sentence for a 73-year-old Hot Springs Village man convicted of producing child pornography, despite his argument that the sentence was unreasonable. The 8 th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld the sentence for Emory James Zastrow, who pleaded guilty to one count of sexual exploitation of a child. Zastrow was accused of taking sexually explicit photographs of a young child who was a family friend. According to Zastrow’s plea agreement filed in May 2007, Zastrow occasionally babysat a young girl after school. Between Jan. 1, 2005, and Dec. 31, 2005, Zastrow took sexually explicit photographs of the girl, the plea agreement said. For the crime, the mandatory minimum sentence was 15 years in prison, though sentencing guidelines recommended 210 to 262 months in jail. Zastrow argued the court didn’t sufficiently consider his age, medical condition, remorse and lack of criminal history. The 8 th Circuit upheld Zastrow’s 20-year sentence, saying it was “procedurally sound.”
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Escapee: Broke out to see grandmother TEXARKANA — A man who escaped the Miller County jail and was arrested nearly two weeks later in Fayetteville said he broke out to visit his grandmother. “That was a golden opportunity for me,” Bennie Johnson said. “I didn’t know till that night. It was a last-minute thing for me.” Johnson said he escaped because his grandmother, who raised him, was recovering from a heart attack in Fort Smith, the Texarkana Gazette reported Wednesday. He said he visited her daily in the hospital while on the lam. “My grandmother’s worth everything in the whole world,” Johnson said. Johnson was one of six inmates who broke out of the county jail July 8. He was the last to be apprehended by police and now faces felony escape charges. Also Tuesday, Johnson pleaded guilty to the charge that originally landed him in jail. Circuit Judge Jim Hudson sentenced him to six years in prison for battery in connection with a January stabbing.
— THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
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