An illegal immigrant who was detained last month at a state-run house in Revere was staying with a person who was, according to the governor, who was also taking an AR-15 and$ 1 million worth of fentanyl. Maura Healey said Tuesday
Healey reported that officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had taken custody of Leonardo Andujar Sanchez, an illegal immigrant from the Dominican Republic, who federal officials claimed unlawfully entered the country at an unknown date and location within the previous month. A moment after, Healey ordered an inspection of all emergency house units.
Healey claimed Sanchez did not apply for the emergency house established under a 1980s legislation to provide temporary accommodation to pregnant women and their children.
” No, he didn’t qualify. That’s what we understand. I mean, we’re going to learn more through this analysis”, Healey told investigators after an event at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. This is the issue of a criminal investigation, so I want to remain cautious with what I say.
The first-term Democrat directed inquiries from the Herald to the Executive Office of Housing and Sustainable Societies, which half controls the system, and did not identify the person who Sanchez was staying with who was a recipient of state house services.
A representative for the organization did not respond to a list of Herald inquiries about Sanchez’s whereabouts and the security procedures at the Quality Inn in Revere where he was detained next quarter.
The Healey management has been saying for the past year and a half that only immigrants who are freely permitted into the United States by the federal government are qualified for state-run sanctuary solutions. The administration claims that the majority of the families in the house structure are residents of Massachusetts and that the other half are migrants.
Sanchez faces 11 charges stemming from the imprisonment, including 10 related to firearms and one alleging he had 4.9 tons, or just under 11 lbs, of fentanyl, according to court papers. His attorney, who was hired by him, has recently claimed that the allegations are” only allegations.”
Attorney John Benzan , who spoke to the Herald last week, said,” We are going to battle this case tooth and nail and we are going to keep the Commonwealth to the standard that they have to show every aspect of every fee to a fair question.”
On Tuesday, Benzan did not respond right away to a Herald inquiry.
Healey claimed Sanchez was taken from the shelter after his arrest and is currently being held in ICE custody. The federal agency’s spokesperson did not immediately confirm Sanchez ‘ status with ICE.
According to ICE officials, Sanchez was detained on December 27 and arraigned in Chelsea District Court days later for a felony charge of possessing a firearm and a large capacity feeding device, being an alien in possession of a firearm, selling or posing an assault weapon without permission, and trafficking in 200 grams or more of heroin, morphine, opium, or fentanyl.
According to a statement released last week that referenced the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations unit in Boston, ERO officers determined that Andujar unlawfully entered the United States on an unknown date at an unknown location sometime within the past year during a Spanish-language interview.
Healey ordered an inspection of all state-run shelter units and a “full review” of the system’s intake process to see if additional measures can be taken to stop criminal activity following Sanchez’s arrest.
According to a Healey spokesperson, staff members will conduct inspections “in accordance with applicable shelter rules” while complying with the applicable shelter rules.
Staff members will be tasked with identifying any “non-compliance with shelter rules, such as indications of criminal activity or anything that would raise significant health or safety concerns,” the spokesperson said.
Eliot Community Human Services, a Lexington-based organization, is the provider for the Revere shelter, according to the state’s housing agency. The organization’s president and CEO, Melinda Matthews, did not immediately respond to an emailed inquiry from the Herald.
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