October 16, 2007

Two Cuban felons convicted of illegally possessing firearms, drugs
Officers discovered firearms, narcotics, and more than $4,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - Two Cuban brothers were convicted Monday for illegally residing in the United States who also unlawfully possessed firearms and drugs. This conviction was announced by U.S. Attorney Charles R. Gross, Western District of Michigan; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies investigated the case.

Alejandro Serrano Domenech, 34, and his brother, William Serrano Domenech, 30, both citizens of Cuba, were convicted in U.S. District Court Oct. 15. Alejandro Domenech was also convicted of possessing counterfeit U.S. currency.

On April 4, 2006, officers of the Clinton County Sheriff's Department, Michigan State Police (MSP), and Dewitt Township PD attempted to locate a person wanted on a State of Michigan arrest warrant at a Clinton County motel. Immediately after officers knocked on the motel room door, an MSP Trooper positioned behind the motel saw the bathroom light turn on and observed the shadow of a male attempting to put something in the toilet. Concluding that evidence was likely being destroyed, the Trooper opened the bathroom window and discovered Alejandro Domenech trying to flush a plastic bag down the toilet. When the Trooper shouted to stop, Domenech took the bag from the toilet, put it in his mouth, and ran from the bathroom into the motel room. There he encountered Clinton County deputies and the Dewitt officer who had entered the room after hearing the struggle in the bathroom. Domenech fought with the officers, but was subdued and arrested. During the struggle, he spit out a plastic bag of crack and cocaine, and dropped a switchblade knife.

Other people were found in the room: a 14-year-old female runaway and a woman, both from Albuquerque, N.M., and defendant William Domenech. The officers secured the room and obtained a search warrant. While executing the search warrant, officers discovered and seized three loaded firearms; distribution quantities of narcotics that included cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana; drug-trafficking paraphernalia; and more than $4,000 in counterfeit U.S. currency.

The ICE investigation began once it was determined that the Domenech brothers were Cuban nationals. The Domenechs were illegally present in the United States, and they were also previously convicted felons. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed that two of the firearms recovered from the motel room had originally been sold to an Albuquerque, N.M., resident.

ICE agents contacted the owner of the stolen guns. They learned that the defendants had stolen all three weapons in an armed home invasion in March 2006, and that they had threatened the owner's life if he notified authorities. Subsequent investigation also discovered that the Domenechs had traveled from New Mexico to the Lansing, Mich., area in late March with the 14-year-old girl and two other women, dealing drugs from various motels in the area until they were discovered and arrested.

"The public benefits when local, state and federal law enforcement agencies work together on these complex cases," said Brian M. Moskowitz, special agent in charge of the Office of Investigations for Michigan and Ohio. "Illegal immigration, gun trafficking, and drug trafficking are often linked together. Only by using our combined authorities can we truly make a difference."

The arrest, Federal indictment, prosecution and conviction of the defendants was a direct result of the cooperative efforts the Clinton County Sheriff's Department, the Michigan State Police, the Dewitt Township Police Department, the U.S. Secret Service, ATF, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

Sentencing will occur before U.S. District Judge Janet T. Neff on a date to be determined. Alejandro Domenech faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison up to a maximum of life imprisonment. William Domenech faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison up to a maximum of 40 years.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Hagen W. Frank and Elisa Castrolugo, Western District of Michigan, prosecuted this case.

-- ICE --

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was established in March 2003 as the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security. ICE is comprised of five integrated divisions that form a 21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities.

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