Thanks to Charles C. Bonniwell.
Voorhis Hearing Explodes With Accusations Against Ritter
ICE Agent Asserts That Ritter’s Office Was Involved In Obstruction Of Justice
by Charles C. Bonniwell
The long anticipated hearing for former Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) agent Cory Voorhis to regain his federal job back
was heard in a federal courtroom in the Byron Rogers Courthouse in
downtown Denver on January 18 and 19. The Voorhis controversy
had resulted in the withdrawal of Stephanie Villafuerte’s nomination
for United States Attorney on December 14, 2009, and many believe
it had a significant role, directly or indirectly, in Governor Bill Ritter’s
decision not to seek a second term as governor of Colorado.
The hearing was in the U.S. Tax Court courtroom to accommodate
the large number of spectators wanting to attend the hearing. The
Department of Homeland Security had originally sought to prevent
the hearing from being public claiming “security” concerns. On the
first day of the proceeding a large number of law enforcement
officers stood guard outside giving the hearing an Oklahoma City
Bombing trial atmosphere.
Charges Of Unauthorized Access
Voorhis had been accused by then candidate and later Governor
Ritter of illegally accessing a confidential federal crime base to benefit
his Republican opponent Bob Beauprez in the 2006 governor’s contest.
Countercharges were then made by the Beauprez campaign that
Ritter’s close and longtime aide, Stephanie Villafuerte, had been
involved in illegally accessing the same database on behalf of the
Ritter campaign. The exact nature of the relationship between
Governor Ritter and Villafuerte also became a matter of intense
speculation when it caused her to be nominated as United States
Attorney for Colorado. Her withdrawal of her nomination on December
14 was followed by Governor Ritter’s announcement three weeks later
that he would not seek a second term as governor in order to spend
more time withhis family.
Voorhis had been indicted in federal court for unauthorized access
to the database but was found not guilty by a jury in April of last
year. Notwithstanding the verdict, ICE fired Voorhis shortly after
the federal trial. The former ICE agent was now attempting to get
his job back. Voorhis had not testified at his criminal trial and the
hearing was the first time he took the stand to give his side of the
story and his testimony was explosive.
Voorhis Testifies
Taking the stand on the second day of the hearing, he testified that
he had been outraged that in an August 23, 2006, article in the
Rocky Mountain News, former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter
then claimed that he was tough on those illegally in the country when
they committed serious crimes. Voorhis testified that Ritter and his
D.A.’s office would in fact simply dismiss charges against illegal
immigrants once ICE indicated that they would deport the individual
if convicted.
Voorhis also claimed that Ritter’s office routinely plea bargained
serious feloniesdown to minor misdemeanors such as “Agricultural
Trespass.” Among those given plea bargain deals were, according to
Voorhis, dangerous gang members who later went on to commit serious
crimes including sexual assault on minors. One such person was
Carlos Estrada Medina, aka Walter Ramo, who was the subject of a
Beauprez campaign ad in October 2006.
Voorhis testified that the practice in Ritter’s office got so bad that
American citizens would falsely claim they were illegal aliens so that
charges against them would be dropped or plea bargained down to
minor misdemeanors. He went on to testify that he believed Ritter
and his office’s actions constituted criminal obstruction of justice.
Results Pending
The cross examination of Voorhis by Government attorney Robert
Erbe was anxiously awaited. Erbe did not appear to significantly dent
Voorhis’ allegations against Ritter, or his defense that he only gave to
John Marshall, Beauprez’s campaign manager who he stated he
believed was a congressional staffer, publicly available information.
After the hearing Voorhis stated that he was glad to finally tell his
side of the story and thanked the many people who had supported
him in what has taken almost four years of his life and left him with
over three quarters of a million dollars in legal bills.
Among those attending the hearing were former gubernatorial
candidate Bob Beauprez and his wife. Beauprez indicated after the
hearing that he believed that Voorhis had been vindicated by the
two days of testimony. His impression seemed to be
seconded by many who attend the hearing.
Beth Johnson of Denver stated, “If you took a vote among those
attending the hearing, I would bet that 99 percent would say they
believe that Cory Voorhis should be given back his job based on the
testimony.” She went on to note, “Of course, what those attending
the hearing think doesn’t really matter. It is all up to the
administrative law judge.”
The administrative law judge, Jeremiah Cassidy, asked the attorneys
to submit written closing briefs and he is expected to make a written
ruling in 60 to 90 days.
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