U.S. Attorney and ICE Agreed Not To Pursue Case Against Multnomah County Court Officer

U.S. Attorney for Oregon Billy Williams tells WW that Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials approached him with concerns about one week after Multnomah Circuit Court referee Monica Herranz allegedly allowed an immigrant defendant in her courtroom to elude capture by federal agents.

Williams had concerns of his own when he heard that Herranz may have kept federal agents from making an arrest at the Justice Center last month.

"I was troubled because, on the face of it, what I heard sounded like potential federal criminal law violations and/or ethical violations," Williams told WW. "Generally, we're talking about obstruction of justice."

Williams said he, ICE and the Department of Justice's Office of Professional Responsibility in Washington, D.C., all ultimately agreed not to pursue a criminal investigation or a bar complaint against Herranz or anyone else who may have been involved in the Jan. 27 courtroom incident involving an undocumented immigrant man from Mexico, Diddier Pacheco Salazar.

The Oregonian first broke the story in abbreviated form on its website yesterday evening.

WW's full report, which appears in Wednesday's paper, is online here.