PORTLAND, Ore. – A convicted criminal who has been deported 20 times will spend the next 35 years behind bars for breaking into a 65-year-old woman’s home and sexually assaulting her.
KGW reports 31-year-old Sergio Jose Martinez was caught after a foot chase through a Portland neighborhood after he assaulted another woman on July 24.
Court documents show Martinez has a long history of illegal entry into the United States. He’s been arrested before and has been deported 20 times. Martinez’s most recent removal was in November 2016.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement asked local authorities to notify them when Martinez was released. But the Department of Homeland Security said no such notification was made. The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office wrote a letter to the community earlier this year stating the sheriff’s office “does not hold people in [the] county jail on ICE detainers or conduct any immigration enforcement actions.”
Before his latest arrest, Martinez was convicted of burglary, battery, theft and obstructing a police officer. He also told investigators he was using methamphetamine on a daily basis.
The day he broke into the 65-year-old woman’s house, he beat her, and sexually assaulted her, and threatened to kill her before stealing her car.
Later that night, police found Martinez armed with a knife after he assaulted another woman.
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