Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – While there were three ounces of methamphetamine found under the seat of his car following a traffic stop at the McDonald’s parking lot in Chehalis, prosecutors found no evidence to corroborate he was intending to sell or distribute the drug.

So, a plea deal was made with 37-year-old Eduardo F. Morales Martinez.

Morales Martinez and his 38-year-old passenger were arrested last month and this week he was back before a judge in Lewis County Superior Court to be convicted of a lesser charge.

He was initially charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, but pleaded guilty to simple possession on Wednesday morning. He also pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal impersonation.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello told the judge the change was made because while it was a large amount of meth, the statute required him to show the defendant planned to deliver the drugs, and that information “wasn’t present.”

Morales Martinez also admitted to using a false name with law enforcement during the March 8 incident, showing them three Mexican identification cards.

Masiello told the judge he recommended Morales Martinez should be given 60 days in jail, something he called pretty standard for the type of situation.

Morales Martinez, who told the court he worked in construction and prior to that did oyster shucking, spoke through a Spanish-English interpreter. Court papers list a Shelton address for him.

Masiello had written in charging documents that Morales Martinez had prior convictions for delivery of a controlled substance and driving under the influence as well as multiple deportations and illegal entries.

Defense attorney David Arcuri told the judge he had gone over with his client in detail the potential immigration consequences of his plea, informing him it was highly likely federal authorities would process him for deportation when he finished serving his time.

Judge Andrew Toynbee accepted the guilty pleas and imposed the two-month sentence, giving credit for 29 days already served. He also ordered Morales Martinez to pay $4,200 in fines and fees. He called it a fair outcome, based on what he knew of the case.

The companion case for the passenger, Olympia-area resident Gloria N. Iniguez Gonzalez, 38, is still pending, according to Masiello. Her bail had been set at $10,000 and she is no longer in jail.

She had a 1-year-old son with her during the traffic stop on Median Street that Morales Martinez said was also his son.

Neither Arcuri nor Masiello knew where Morales Martinez might be deported to.

“South of the border, is all I know,” Masiello said. “I know they (ICE) know of this case, but exactly how they will be proceeding, I don’t know.”
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For background, read “Chehalis traffic stops yield large amounts of meth” from Friday March 10, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Six adults and two small children are without a home after a fire broke out this morning on Southwest 14th Street just east of Wilson Avenue in Chehalis.

Everyone was out of the two-story residence by the time Lewis County Fire District 6 Chief Tim Kinder arrived on the scene, but a man and a woman were taken to the hospital for breathing and/or smoke issues.

“When we pulled up, there was fire coming out the second story window,” Chehalis Fire Department Capt. Ted McCarty said.

Crews found flames on the upper floor and in the attic area, McCarty said.

“A lot of smoke damage throughout,” he said.

Genessa Glidden said she had just recently signed up with the owner Judy Chafin to be a caregiver there. Chafin was at the hospital and Glidden worked with authorities today to see about getting five cats out of the house.

The city red tagged the building as uninhabitable.

Members of the Red Cross and a Lewis County chaplain were at the scene assisting.

“We’re here to take care of them,” Malcolm Hanrahan of the Red Cross said. “They’ll have a place to stay tonight and something to eat.”

Kinder said 15 firefighters from four departments extinguished the fire. It was reported at 9:38 a.m. The cause is under investigation.

Chafin and the city had issues a few years back relating to zoning when she opened up her home to newly released prisoners and others who needed help getting back on their feet.

At the time, she called the home House of the Rising Son and she operated numerous halfway houses in the county.

In 2014, she was convicted for a prescription drug possession offense and given 30 days of house arrest for what a jury learned were a former housemate’s morphine pills left out in a common area which she scooped into her purse because she had her small grandchild living with her.

An anonymous complaint to the state Department of Labor and Industries around the same time took her to Lewis County Superior Court, with criminal prosecutors contending her performance of landlord-like services meant she wrongly collected disability benefits for a 2006 on-the-job injury. She was acquitted.

Chehalis Police Department Chief Glenn Schaffer today said an officer was called to the house recently and noticed a significant number of people residing there again.

Paperwork put together by the police department, the city’s community development section and the city attorney with notices of zoning and code violations are either ready to send or have already been mailed to Chafin, according to Schaffer.

“This zone should be for a single-family house,” the chief said.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The 26-year-old Toledo man arrested and charged late last year with possession of child porn was sentenced this morning to six years and five months in prison.

Chriss Grammount previously pleaded guilty as charged, to three counts of first-degree possession of depictions of minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct and one count of second-degree possession of depictions of minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

When he appeared before a judge today in Lewis County Superior Court, Grammount said he knew what he did was inappropriate and he was sorry.

“Once I get out, I want to get out and do what you guys ask me to do and keep myself on a straight path,” he told the judge.

Grammount, who previously worked at Wal-Mart, was arrested on Dec. 1, following an investigation by the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office based on the receipt of information from the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Prosecutors said he used his phone to download videos from Kik and transfer them to a publicly available Dropbox account in which his user name and associated email address were his own first and last names.

Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm and defense attorney Kevin Nelson recommended Grammount be given 77 months, the low end of the standard sentencing range.

Judge Andrew Toynbee agreed with their advice, based in part on what he called cognitive and educational issues described in the pre-sentencing report.

He also ordered him to pay $1,500 in fines and fees plus a $4,000 “minor depiction fee”.

Grammount was taken into custody at the end of the hearing. When he is released from prison, he will be on community custody for three years.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Bail was set at $25,000 for a 32-year-old Centralia man charged yesterday with third-degree rape in connection with an encounter with a 16-year-old girl late last month.

Stephen M. Douglas Jr. was arrested on Friday after he was questioned by detectives at his home.

The incident was reported to the Chehalis Police Department after the teen’s father took her to the hospital for an exam, following her disclosure what had happened, according to court documents.

The girl takes busses between Centralia and Chehalis for school and instead of going to school that day, she got off the bus with a guy she’d met prior, near a pot store where he made a purchase and then they took a walk up the road behind a gate, according to charging documents.

The 16-year-old said he put his coat on the ground and told her to  perform oral sex, then took off both their pants and had sex with her.

Under questioning, the girl said she may have said no, but didn’t remember. However, she described drawing her forearms together in front of her with her elbows out and also trying to close her legs during the incident, according to charging documents.

“…  (She) decided to close her eyes because she was afraid and didn’t want to look at him anymore,” Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Melissa Bohm wrote.

By her description, the Chehalis police detective concluded the bus stop was near The Vintage along North National Avenue in Chehalis.

The detective tracked down Douglas by finding surveillance photos from Wal-Mart. He reportedly went there to get the girl new pants and dry socks because hers had gotten muddy.

When asked why she decided to stay with him instead of going to school, the teenager said he seemed like a nice person and she trusted him, Bohm wrote.

On Friday when detectives interviewed Douglas, he said after work that morning he went to Wal-Mart to cash his check, bought little bottles of vodka to drink at the bus stop, walked to the pot shop to buy some product and then took a bus home, according to Bohm.

Third-degree rape is a class C felony, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Its elements include the victim not consenting to sexual intercourse, and where the lack of consent was clearly expressed by words or conduct.

Deputy Prosecutor Bohm yesterday afternoon asked Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler to hold Douglas on $25,000 bail. The judge agreed.

Douglas’s arraignment is scheduled for Thursday.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – A 23-year-old man and his 18-year-old girlfriend are in custody in connection with the death of his mother, found yesterday at her Tenino-area home.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office began looking for Roan Littlemoon and Sabrina Young Anderson after an approximately 4 p.m. call yesterday alerting them to a potential homicide at a rural residence on the 2800 block of 184th Avenue Southeast.

Sheriff’s Lt. Tim Rudloff said detectives got a call about 9 o’clock this morning informing them the pair were just then detained in Longview. The couple’s car had been located about 2 a.m. in the parking lot of a tavern in downtown Longview, he said.

The sheriff’s office reported last night they had probable cause to arrest Littlemoon and Anderson for second-degree murder.

When deputies went to the home south of Tenino yesterday afternoon, they found the victim 60-year-old Robin L. Tingle inside her residence, according to Rudloff. Her son Littlemoon lived there with her, he stated.

The house sits on a multi-acre ranch or tree farm-type property, just off state Route 507, south of Tenino and north of Bucoda, according to the sheriff’s office.

Last night’s press release indicated the information the sheriff’s office got yesterday suggested the homicide occurred sometime before noon.

The sheriff’s office hasn’t yet offered any information about the nature of Tingle’s death. Rudloff said they’re not putting that out yet.

Detectives were headed down to Longview to pick up the two suspect and bring them back to Thurston County, he said.

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Federal immigration authorities issued their first list last week to highlight jails that don’t cooperate with ICE detainers or requests for notification of release of aliens who are potentially removable from the country.

It’s possible it won’t be long before the Lewis County Jail lands on the list.

Lewis County Sheriff Rob Snaza says this isn’t a “sanctuary county” but, his jail doesn’t and won’t hold inmates for immigration officers to come and pick up based on a detainer.

When it’s time to be released, whether because they’ve posted bail or their sentence is served, inmates get set free.

“We will not keep you, unless you have a warrant,” said Snaza, a Republican who was elected to his position in 2014 with 77 percent of the vote in a two-way race.

The jail used to routinely honor the detainers, until a federal court case in 2014 in Oregon after which they changed their policies. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer said the court decision concluded the ICE detainer is not a warrant, it’s more like a letter.

“We don’t have the authority to hold anyone just on a detainer,” Meyer said.

Meyer didn’t know how many jurisdictions in Washington have taken the same position, but said he didn’t think the county’s interpretation was out of the norm.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

The report issued March 20 is required by an executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Jan. 25, according to DHS.

The agency stated it plans to publish a report weekly to inform the public of criminal actions committed by aliens and any jurisdictions which choose not to cooperate, potentially endangering Americans.

Neither the press release or companion report acknowledge the legal position that Lewis and other counties have taken.

“When law enforcement agencies fail to honor immigration detainers and release serious criminal offenders, it undermines ICE’s ability to protect the public safety and carry out its mission,” Acting ICE Director Thomas Homan stated. “Our goal is to build cooperative, respectful relationships with our law enforcement partners.”

The Lewis County Jail in Chehalis – the county seat – houses arrestees from sheriff’s deputies, from the Washington State Patrol and police from all the cities and towns within the county. It also holds those who are sentenced locally to less than one year.

On any given day, it’s population is roughly 200 inmates, give or take about 20.

Despite the sheriff’s stance, the jail isn’t entirely uncooperative.

Deputies enforce state laws and county codes, and don’t ask people about their citizenship or immigration status, according to Snaza.

However, when anyone is booked into the jail, one question is asked of all of them.

Where were you born?

If the answer is anything but inside the United States, corrections officers will notify ICE.

Jail staff don’t attempt to figure out anyone’s citizenship or immigration status, they leave that up to the immigration authorities.

Lewis County Jail Corrections Sgt. Ron Anderson said they fax information on foreign born individuals probably three or four times each month to the ICE field office in Seattle. And about once a month, ICE will fax back a detainer on someone.

The piece of paper goes into the inmate’s file and when it’s time for that person to get out, a corrections officer will phone ICE and let them know what time the individual is going to be released.

Anderson said maybe only once so far this year, an immigration officer has actually shown up and taken someone into their custody.

“It’s a lot different than it used to be,” he said.

Anderson, who has worked at the facility for 30 years, recalls the process before the 2014 change.

“If the agency said they couldn’t get down here till the next day, we would hold the person,” he said.

ICE used to come down and conduct sweeps, Anderson said.

DHS’s first report – called the Declined Detainer Outcome Report – contains a section which names the 10 “non-cooperative” jurisdictions which had the highest number of detainers issued to them during the seven-day period that began Jan. 28.

Two Pacific Northwest entities appear; Snohomish County with 12 detainers issued and Washington County in Oregon with seven.

Washington County Sheriff Pat Garrett issued a press release the same day, taking issue with the feds suggesting some choose not to cooperate.

“(It) does not accurately describe the difficulties or potential legal ramifications associated with honoring ICE detainer requests,” Garrett stated.

Sheriff Garrett went on to recount how in April 2014, a judge for the U.S. District Court of Oregon found Clackamas County violated Maria Miranda-Olivares’ constitutional rights, by holding her on an ICE detainer, ultimately costing taxpayers more than $100,000.

The ruling that detainer requests are unconstitutional led every county in Oregon to immediately stop honoring them, according to Garrett.

Like Sheriff Snaza and Prosecutor Meyer, Garrett said his county will honor any warrant or court order to detain a person.

Another section of the March 20 report includes a table presenting information about 206 declined detainers around the country during the seven-day period, naming the facility, the county and state, along with the country of citizenship and examples of criminal activity – charges or convictions – associated with each case.

ICE sends detainers if it possesses probable cause to believe that the alien is removable from the United States. The report notes however, the agency does not document in a systematically reportable manner, the immigration status of each target.

Another table in the report shows more than 100 jurisdictions throughout the country, of which ICE has become aware, which have policies that limit cooperation with ICE. The majority of them indicate they will not hold individuals solely on an ICE detainer, with several suggesting with various phrasing they will honor a warrant or court order.

Lewis County Undersheriff Wes Rethwill put it this way:

“We do have open lines of communications with all agencies,” he said. “But the whole detainer thing is a civil piece in the federal system, and we don’t act on civil stuff.”

Earlier this month, after news headlines abounded about presidential executive orders dealing with immigration and immigration bans, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office command team sent a memo to employees to affirm they were making no changes in how they operate.

“We will not go after people because of their status,” Snaza said. “That’s not our job.”

Prosecutor Meyer says the sheriff’s office is only authorized to enforce state law – and county ordinances – but not federal law.

Sheriff Snaza related that their primary mission is to keep the community and it’s people safe.

“In order to best accomplish this, we must build confidence so victims and witnesses to crimes come forward to report such criminal activity and/or seek assistance, as needed, without fear of becoming vulnerable to immigration repercussions,” his memo stated.

The memo reiterates that the sheriff’s office serves all people within Lewis County regardless of their immigrations status as well as noting that all people they come in contact with are entitled to the rights and protections of the state constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

The command team memo asks employees to be mindful of how their actions, statements and questions they can answer impact the public’s level of fear and trust in law enforcement.

These are tense times, Snaza said.

“When I hear of kids at school afraid of losing their mom or dad, that concerns me,” Snaza said.

He said he was discouraged when he heard some ICE agents were hanging around courthouses to find people.

Snaza said he wishes everyone could work together to help “these folks” to ease their concerns and fears.

“I’m not going to go into a home and rip a family apart,” Snaza said. “It’s not my job and there’s no way I’ll do that.”

It’s a conversation that’s been had even around his own dinner table, Snaza said.

His father-in-law, a Marine who went to Vietnam, worked here for some 30 years on a green card before he decided to take steps to become a U.S. citizen, he said.

“Most people in the U.S. illegally want to make a better life for themselves,” Snaza said. “It’s a small percent that do the crime.”

ICE issued a press release yesterday announcing 84 foreign nationals were arrested during a recent three-day operation conducted in Washington, Alaska and Oregon.

They targeted at-large criminal aliens, illegal re-entrants, and immigration fugitives.

Sixty of them have criminal histories including prior convictions for sex crimes, drug offenses and domestic violence but the most common was driving under the influence, according to ICE.

Seven of them were women. They came from 12 countries, with the largest number (64) from Mexico.

The enforcement actions took place in 20 communities, and King County accounted for the largest number of arrestees at 19.

Among them, two people were picked up in Thurston County, three in Cowlitz County and one in Mason County.

Rose M. Richeson, public affairs officer for ICE for the Pacific Northwest, said she didn’t have a label for someone who arrived to this country with a visa and never left when they were supposed to.

“They’re not considered a priority, I don’t have a term for those people,” she said.

However, if they are picked up, they are dealt with on a case by case basis, she said.

Prosecutor Meyer today said the Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys is working with ICE to see if there are ways local jurisdictions could honor a new form of detainer.

“I worry it may have a chilling effect on victims reporting crimes,” Meyer said. “Our laws have to mean something.”

Sheriff Snaza shared a memo he received today from the Washington State Sheriff’s Association taking exception to ICE’s label of some as uncooperative.

Every sheriff in the state complies with the federal court decision that precludes them from holding inmates on ICE detainer requests, Cowlitz County Sheriff Mark Nelson, president of the WSSA wrote.

“Sheriffs need to uphold what is legal and what is right and not bend to political pressure or convenience,” Nelson stated. “The public expects us to enforce the law while obeying the law.”

Nelson’s letter notes that after the 2014 court decision within the Ninth Federal Circuit, sheriffs reached out to ICE in order to find a workable solution.

“ICE’s position has been less than cooperative,” Nelson wrote. “Their current approach has the potential to undermine long standing relationships between federal and local agencies.”

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By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Lawyers checked in with a judge yesterday to gauge progress towards the trial for a Centralia woman accused of fatally shooting her husband.

Janet L. Anderson, now 40, is charged with second-degree murder for the December death of 41-year-old Ty Anderson.

Her trial is scheduled for the week of May 8, but neither attorney expects it to take place that soon.

Centralia defense attorney Shane O’Rourke said a significant amount of discovery – materials prosecutors intend to use at trial – has been exchanged, but they are still awaiting the results of DNA testing from the state crime lab.

O’Rourke told the judge he will be asking to postpone the trial date, but doesn’t want to do it yet because he wants to make sure the crime lab keeps the case as a high priority.

Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead said there are lots and lots of items to be tested.

Outside the courtroom, O’Rourke said among the blood to be tested, is his client’s.

“She sustained some injury as well, and was bleeding,” he said. “From our position, she was hurt during an altercation.”

Lewis County Superior Court Judge James Lawler agreed the parties should return to court in two weeks, and on that date they could address a new trial date.

Anderson remains held on $1 million bail.

She was arrested Dec. 17, after she turned herself in to police and told them she and her husband had been arguing at their home off of West Oakview Avenue and he grabbed his gun and pointed it at her. Her husband’s body was found in their bedroom with a bullet hole in the back of his neck and another in his lower back.
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For background, read “Centralia wife’s murder trial postponed” from Thursday January 19, 2017, here