U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Western District of Texas

Johnny Sutton, U.S. Attorney

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 9, 2006

Shana Jones, Special Assistant to US Attorney
Daryl Fields, Public Affairs Officer
 

EL PASO BAIL BONDSMAN PLEADS GUILTY TO PROVIDING FEDERAL JUDGE WITH FRAUDULENT DOCUMENTATION

United States Attorney Johnny Sutton announced that 53-year-old David Delgado, owner and operator of Casa Bail Bonds, pled guilty this morning to making false and fraudulent statements on two separate occasions including a falsified death report on a Mexican national facing a federal drug charge in an attempt to get the charge dismissed. As a result, Delgado, who remains in federal custody on a $20,000 bond, faces up to five years in federal prison per count.

According factual basis filed in this case, on October 18, 2004, Delgado posted a $25,000 corporate security bond for Anel Viridiana Salas-Pimental. Salas-Pimental was arrested by Immigration officials at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry on October 12, 2004, after attempting to smuggle over 12 kilograms of marijuana into the United States. On January 3, 2005, Delgado impeded an official proceeding by instructing Salas-Pimental to not attend a scheduled hearing for the next day. In his plea, Delgado admitted that on March 7, 2005, he provided the Court with fraudulent documentation of Salas-Pimental’s purported medical condition and hospitalization to explain her failure to appear in Court. In April 2005, Delgado intentionally misled a U.S. Pretrial Services officer investigating the whereabouts of Salas-Pimental. Delgado told the officer that when he last visited with Salas-Pimental in February 2005, she was ill, had contracted Hepatitis B and was in a hospital in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. Furthermore, Delgado lied to FBI agents when he claimed that he attempted to obtain a clearance for Salas-Pimental to enter the country for a court appearance on January 4, 2005, but was unsuccessful because Immigration officials denied her entry because she suffered from Hepatitis B, a communicable disease. Delgado also admitted in his plea to providing the Court on July 15, 2005, with fraudulent documentation of Salas-Pimental’s purported medical condition, treatment and death to explain her failure to appear in Court. Based upon the fraudulent documentation, the Court dismissed the case against Salas-Pimental. Authorities uncovered Delgado’s criminal actions in September 2005 when Salas-Pimental, worried about the status of her pending federal drug charges, contacted authorities. At that time, she learned that her charges had been dismissed because the Court had accepted the documentation of her death provided by Delgado.

Sentencing is scheduled for 8:30am on January 12, 2007, before United States District Judge David Briones. This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys William F. Lewis, Jr., and Russell Leachman are prosecuting this case on behalf of the government.