Immigration involved in Ellisburg fatality investigation

TUESDAY, JULY 31, 2012

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U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is involved in the investigation into Saturday night’s fatal accident in the town of Ellisburg, as the victim has been identified as a man from Mexico, according to Jefferson County Sheriff John P. Burns.

The sheriff declined to say whether the victim, Rafael Espinoza, 33, Quintana Roo, Mexico, or the driver in the accident, Amado Hernandez-Alvarado, 23, has been determined to be an illegal alien.

The driver’s address is listed as 8513 Mixer Road, town of Ellisburg, which is owned by Sheland Farms, a 700-head dairy farm at 12043 County Route 79, town of Ellisburg. The owner of the farm, Douglas W. Shelmidine, could not be reached Monday morning for comment.

The accident occurred at 9:25 p.m. Saturday on Lake Road in the town of Ellisburg. The pickup driven by Mr. Hernandez-Alvarado went off the north side of the road and rolled over several times.

The driver is jailed in the Metro-Jefferson Public Safety Building on charges of second-degree vehicular manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, driving at a speed not reasonable or prudent and driving without a license.

A spokesman for ICE, Ross Feinstein, said Monday afternoon that a detainer has been lodged at the Public Safety Building against Mr. Hernandez-Alvarado for being in the country unlawfully. “After state charges are adjudicated, he will be turned over to ICE and placed in removal proceedings,” he said.

The agency will not confirm or deny the existence of a work site investigation, Mr. Feinstein said.

A fatality in March 2011 involving a worker at Butterville Farms, Smithville, prompted an ICE investigation and the arrest of one of the farm owners, John Barney, for hiring illegal aliens. He pleaded guilty in December and was fined $3,000.

In the Butterville case, the worker was killed in a fall on the farm.