A Mexican citizen who was detained in Durango by Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this year received 12 months’ probation after pleading guilty to a criminal mischief charge that involved domestic violence.
David Miranda-Cabrera, then 37, was arrested March 27 after the Durango Police Department was called to his girlfriend’s apartment for a disturbance.
Initially, Miranda-Cabrera’s girlfriend told investigators Miranda-Cabrera grabbed a knife and tried to stab her. He was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and domestic violence, among other charges.
But after further investigation, the 6th Judicial District Attorney’s Office in July reduced the charges against Miranda-Cabrera.
Miranda-Cabrera pleaded guilty July 21 to criminal mischief, with an underlying factual basis of domestic violence, a misdemeanor.
At a sentencing hearing Monday, David Greenberg, Miranda-Cabrera’s Durango attorney, said Miranda-Cabrera’s girlfriend misstated that Miranda-Cabrera was holding the knife.
Miranda-Cabrera’s girlfriend later told investigators it was she who was holding the knife, Greenberg said, and he did not hit her.
Instead, Greenberg said Miranda-Cabrera locked his girlfriend out of the apartment, forcing her to break a window to get in, which was the basis for the criminal mischief charge.
Miranda-Cabrera was sentenced to one year of probation. He must not violate the law or a protection order in place. He also is prohibited from using drugs and alcohol, and will have to comply with treatment after a domestic violence evaluation.
If Miranda-Cabrera breaks the terms of his probation, he faces 10 days in jail.
Alethea Smock, spokeswoman for ICE in Denver, said Miranda-Cabrera is not in ICE custody and is going through immigration proceedings.
ICE issued a detainer for Miranda-Cabrera on March 30, but the detainer was not honored, based on a state law that bars local law enforcement from assisting ICE in immigration cases, and he was released from local custody.
“The state passed a law last year that effectively shuts down cooperation between ICE and local law enforcement agencies, meaning local (law enforcement agents) are not allowed to honor our detainers. We file them anyway,” Smock said previously.
ICE on Aug. 11 arrested Miranda-Cabrera in Durango, as one of 63 people detained by the agency in an enforcement action targeting people living in the country illegally.
jromeo@durangoherald.com
