US wants Illegal Immigrants Involved in Lottery Dispute to be Deported!

Innocent pleadings for the money: Jose Antonio Cua-toc, who the immigration authorities claim is an illegal immigrant is accused of stealing a lottery ticket that had won the winner a whopping sum of $750,000 jackpot. The police at Warner Robins said that Eric Cervantes, his wife and children were threatened to be cut alive by Cua-Toc if they did not surrender the ticket to him.

Cua-toc on the other hand claims that the ticket rightfully belonged to him and that Cervantes stole the ticket from him. However, Cua-Toc has been given a timeframe till September 6 to arrange for his journey back home to Gautemala by Superior Court Chief Judge George F. Nunn. Alternatively, it may have been an involuntary departure or removal which means that Cua-Toc would be deported by the immigration authorities and would have been barred to enter the US for a period of ten years.

Legal interpretation versus intricacies: Voluntary departure means that Cua-Toc will have the option to reapply for an American visa after ten years which is not the case if he is deported or involuntarily removed. Cervantes's attorney, Kelly Burke says that with the voluntary removal, Cua-Toc can have a U-Visa which allows him to stay in the US visa which allows him to stay on in the US if he can prove that a crime has indeed been committed against him. Julio E. Moreno who is Cua-Toc’s attorney said that his client needed to provide proof that he has arranged for his flight ticket to his home country.

Even if a deportation order was issued on Tuesday, it would be months before the actual procedure of deportation to be carried out because of a lengthy appeals process. In the meanwhile, the Judge of the Superior Court, George F. Nunn granted an interlocutory injunction on the said disputed amount. This results in the sum of $500,000 being frozen after the deduction of applicable taxes. Merrill Lynch have been nominated the custodians of the remaining amount of the winnings till such time that a decision has been taken on the whole dispute.

Motivated by an Urge to do Good? Conversely, Burke had asked questions to Cua-Toc from the witness stand that implied that Cervantes and Cua-Toc had also planned to split the earnings from the lottery jackpot at a ratio of 50-50. Burke also said that he is confident that a U-Visa will not be granted to the accused.