While Denver residents keep overdosing and dying, DA John Walsh is weighing “collateral consequences”, specifically to protect non-citizens from removal. Same charges, different outcomes based on immigration status. American citizens don’t get that break. Exhibit A: Edith Waleska Barahona-Cruz (#24CR03412). Barahona-Cruz was arrested 6/11/24 and charged with: 💊 Drug Felony 1 (possession with intent of >50 grams of fentanyl, mandatory 8–32 years with no probation) 💊 Drug Felony 2 (possession with intent of meth/heroin/ketamine/cocaine) 💊 Drug Felony 3 (possession with intent to distribute Schedule I/II substances) 👶 Misdemeanor child abuse. All of the drug felonies were DISMISSED and Barahona-Cruz pled to criminal mischief and misdemeanor assault and got two years probation. This is the pattern in Denver courts. Illegal immigrant dealers charged with trafficking get pleas to unrelated offenses like criminal mischief because those carry fewer immigration consequences. A DF1 conviction for that amount of fentanyl with intent is both mandatory prison and an aggravated felony under immigration law, near-automatic deportation. Those charges vanished. DEA Rocky Mountain Special Agent in Charge David Olesky has said cartel members themselves call Colorado “un santuario.” They know a federal arrest means real consequences. A state arrest often does not, because immigration status is treated as a reason to go soft instead of a reason for removal. Soft deals that shield illegal immigrant dealers from prison and deportation only reinforce exactly what the cartels already believe about Denver. If the office had the evidence to charge fentanyl trafficking, the public deserves to know why the final conviction was an unrelated property offense. Protecting @denversmayor vibrant “newcomers” from deportation is being treated as the higher priority than keeping poison off Denver streets. Two-tiered justice for the people selling the drugs that are killing Coloradans. @ERODenver @WhiteHouse SOURCE: lawenforcementtoday.com/denv…