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Drunk Illegal Alien Driver Pleads Guilty Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Compiled by Lewis Loflin

To quote one resident on this story:

Mario Roberto Diaz-Mourillo, an illegal alien was driving the wrong way down Highway 441 between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg in Tennessee when he ran head-on into Florida vacationers John Richard Clevelle and Mildred Margaret Lillard, causing permanent injuries to the couple.

Diaz-Mourillo was convicted of drunken driving, assaulting a police officer and weapons possession in 2004 and then drunken driving 10 days before last May's crash. Now he gets to spend four years in prison on the American taxpayer's dime.

This story in graphic detail shows how Hispanic crime has exploded across East Tennessee and how low-wage and often illegal employers are behind it.

They claim they don't have enough cheap labor to bolster their profits, so here is the real cost of that "cheap labor." Mario Roberto Diaz-Mourillo, (AKA Elmer O. Diaz), pleaded guilty (Oct. 9, 2007) in U.S. District Court to two counts of motor-vehicle assault resulting in serious injury to two people, including a woman who lost an eye.

They claim there was no plea bargain. He was driving north in the southbound lanes of the Spur (between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge) about 10:30 p.m. on May 27 when he struck the vehicle carrying four people. (Official reports indicate three people.) Diaz-Mourillo was drunk, fled the scene, and was later arrested. Because this occurred in a national park, he was charged in a Federal Court. Witnesses included a park ranger. Ref. Knoxville News Sentinel.

Diaz-Mourillo was an illegal alien with prior arrests, who had lived illegally in America for ten years, and in court had to use an interpreter. He never learned to speak English, and fathered two children with a women he claims has "physical" problems and can't work. We can bet the kids and mom are on welfare. More from the News Sentinel March 19, 2008:

"An illegal immigrant on Tuesday who once worked on the exterior of a federal courthouse found himself inside one...Diaz-Mourillo racked up a four-year prison term for driving the wrong way on a Great Smoky Mountains National Park roadway known as the Spur and crashing head-on into a car full of Florida tourists, leaving two of them with permanent injuries...

Diaz-Mourillo, a native Honduran, typifies the root causes of illegal immigration." The News Sentinel went into the usual sob story, here is an extract from official government records, most of it not relevant to the case. Also note the pattern of illegal Hispanics that first get into California with its open borders and sanctuary policies, then they spread mayhem everywhere else like a plague:

Relevant History and Characteristics of Mr. Diaz-Mourillo

Mr. Diaz-Mourillo has accepted responsibility for causing the injuries to the victims in this case. He is very sorry that the accident occurred and very sorry that he caused it through his actions.

He is concerned about the victims and their families. Mr. Diaz-Mourillo's path to the place where he now finds himself began not unlike millions of persons in this country illegally.

He is a native of Honduras who was born into poverty. He never knew his father who died before his birth and he was raised by his mother who worked cleaning clothes. His mother resided in a mountainous region and she would have to walk with her family into area towns when necessary.

The family had to move from place to place in search of food and work. She remarried a man who worked in the fields. The family never had a house and Mr. Diaz-Mourillo's mother died when he was around 18 years old.

Right around the time of his mother's death, Mr. Diaz-Mourillo went to a city in Honduras to try to go to school but those efforts were unsuccessful because he had to struggle financially to support himself.

Following the ruin to Honduras left by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Mr. Diaz-Mourillo eventually came to the United States in search of a better life and better jobs. He worked in California initially, but came to Tennessee when a friend told him he could make more money in construction here.

Since coming to East Tennessee, Mr. Diaz- Mourillo would show that he has worked constantly in construction, primarily laying bricks and blocks. He worked in Greeneville on the federal court house among other construction jobs.

Later, he worked on a number of jobs in Knoxville. When Mr. Diaz- Mourillo would be paid, he would be given a card which could be taken to his employer's bank and money would be provided to him.

He certainly was not the only illegal alien working on these jobs, and his impression was that this was known by the employers. He states that he has worked non-stop since he has been in this country for the benefit of himself and his family.

He has a long time relationship with a citizen who lives in Knoxville and has two children as a result. These children are 4 and 6 years of age. He lived with his family and provided the majority of the financial support.

He states that his wife, who has physical problems which limit her ability to work, has struggled to maintain the family's necessities in his absence.

His so-called "wife" didn't have enough physical problems to have children! They are not married according to public records, so he lied again. He ended up in East Tennessee with scores of other illegal aliens working construction. That included a project at the U.S. District Court building in Greenville. To quote the News Sentinel,

"His employer not only turned a blind eye to the illegal status of his workers but was complicit in their crime, adopting a method of payment that minimized the risk of an incriminating paper trail...When Mr. Diaz-Mourillo would be paid, he would be given a card which could be taken to his employer's bank and money would be provided to him...He certainly was not the only illegal alien working on these jobs, and his impression was that this was known by the employers."

This was according to public officials, they know of it, why don't they put a stop to it? What about the bank? They had to know this was basically money laundering. Also note that the illegals and his employers evaded millions in taxes that the rest of us have to make up.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Schmutzer also pointed out "that Diaz-Mourillo twice ran afoul of the law and even served jail time. But his illegal status was either ignored or undetected. His first brush with East Tennessee law enforcement came in February 2004 when he was convicted in Washington County of charges including driving under the influence, assaulting a police officer and weapons possession."

His 2nd DUI occurred just 10 days earlier in Knox County. His attorney claimed he was sober at the time of the crash and pleaded for the "lowest sentence possible." He whined his pending deportation "will separate him from his wife and two children, all three of whom are legal citizens." If he had been deported ten years ago, we wouldn't have a shiftless drunken illegal alien fathering two welfare cases and nearly killing two innocent vacationers.

Why is this illegal employer not being prosecuted?

From public records:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE AT KNOXVILLE

Based on the nature and circumstances of the offense as well as the history and characteristics of the defendant, the United Stated argues that a variance is not warranted. The crime which defendant committed was a very serious crime. Defendant was traveling the wrong way on a one-way highway.

Two people were seriously and permanently injured because of defendant's actions. Add to this the fact that defendant fled the scene, lied to Special Agent Carlisle when questioned, is illegally in this country, and has two prior DUI convictions. The United States argues that no variance should be granted and that defendant should be sentenced to 51 months imprisonment.

On May 30, 2007, Jeff Carlisle, Special Agent with the National Park Service, was notified that a hit and run collision had occurred in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park on Highway 441, the Spur. A green 1993 Saturn, Tennessee registration 403 KMV, had collided with a silver 1995 Lincoln Town Car, Florida registration OG5 781.

The Saturn had been driven by an unknown Hispanic male. The Lincoln had been driven by a Leneva Clevelle. Two other passengers were in this vehicle. The Hispanic male had fled the collision scene on foot shortly after the collision. An Hispanic male had been seen, prior to the collision, illegally driving north in the south bound lane of 441.

The victims were innocently driving south in the south bound lane. A witness stated to the Ranger working the accident that when assisting the Hispanic male after the accident that this man had an odor of alcohol on his breath. The same witness reported that the man had fled the area on foot after being told that he needed to wait for law enforcement to arrive.

The three individuals in the Lincoln were taken to a local hospital for treatment. One of the victims sustained permanent damage to her eye. Another passenger sustained permanent damage to his hip. The victim who lost the sight of her eye submitted a victim impact statement in which she stated that she is unable to drive her car or ride for long distances because of her back, hip, and neck.

Her neck, spine, and left hip were displaced because of the accident. She is receiving therapy for these injuries. She has been unable to maintain her part-time job as an interior designer, in which she was earning approximately $8,000 a year. These injuries were very serious. There might have been even more serious injuries had the victims been driving a smaller car.

The victims were totally innocent, obeying the law, traveling south on a south bound lane. Defendant was illegally traveling north in the south bound lane of U.S. 441, creating an extremely dangerous situation. An accident occurred, purely defendant's fault, and two innocent victims were badly injured, one losing sight in one eye and the other sustaining a permanent injury to his hip.

HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS OF THE DEFENDANT

As to defendant's history and characteristics, defendant is illegally in the United States and has been in the United States illegally for about ten years, with at least eight of these years being in East Tennessee. (Defendant's Sentencing Memorandum at 6, Doc. 26.) Mr. Diaz-Mourillo also has a criminal history.

He was convicted on February 12, 2004 for a DUI (other convictions were a weapons charge, assault on an officer, and no driver's license.) Defendant received a second DUI conviction in Knox County on May 17, 2007, just 10 days prior to the accident. A witness reported that defendant had alcohol on his breath.

Defendant fled the scene immediately after the accident so the United States was unable to determine if defendant was intoxicated at the time. The Court, in sentencing the defendant, should weigh these factors heavily when considering the history and characteristics of the defendant.

Defendant not only fled the scene after the crime occurred. He continued to deny his identity after being confronted by law enforcement officers for weeks after the offense occurred. The investigation was successfully completed but took weeks for Special Agent Carlisle to complete it.

Defendant was found to be living in Knoxville and was using an alias, Elmer Diaz. Ms. Dopp, a friend of defendant, as well as Ms. Dopp's parents were very uncooperative. When a vehicle driven by Ms. Dopp became disabled at an intersection in Knoxville, the defendant, who was with Ms. Dopp, fled from the scene. He was later apprehended and taken into custody by Immigration officials.

The result of Mr. Diaz-Mourillo's guilty plea and conviction is that he will in all likelihood be deported to a country with which he has very little ties after approximately a decade in the states and at least eight years in East Tennessee. He was completely culturally assimilated to the United States. He stands to lose all meaningful contact with his family and his entire way of life.

These penalties are far more than the average person with the same conviction, under the same circumstances, would face. In a letter to counsel, he has stated that he did not come to this country to hurt anyone, but he apologizes to the victims. Perhaps the greatest penalty he faces is his belief that he let his family down and that they, too, will pay for his actions.

Comment: "He was completely culturally assimilated to the United States" and he can't speak English??? He did come here to commit a crime, that of illegal entry.

IV. Motion for a Variance

The fact that defendant's conviction will likely result in a deportation is a mitigating factor that this Court can consider in light of the Booker decision. See e.g., Jordan v. DeGeorge, 341 U.S. 223, 232 (1951) (deportation is "a life sentence of banishment in addition to the punishment which a citizen would suffer from the identical acts." (Jackson, J. dissenting). If released from incarceration today, Mr. Diaz-Mourillo would still stand to lose everything in his life due to the conviction to which he has pled guilty...

Mr. Diaz-Mourillo has little to nothing in the way of friends or family awaiting him in Honduras. He came to the United States in search or work and a better life and he has lost all of that due to this case. He is intent on getting back to work so that he can support his children in any way he can, even if that means sending money overseas.

Closing comment: Let me be clear about the term "Hispanic" as used on this website. First, Hispanic is not a race. This doesn't mean the millions of legal American citizens of Spanish background that are long term citizens whose families go back prior to the 1960s. They are often as "white" as I am and identify themselves as such.

I refer to the millions of people mostly from Mexico, Central and South America that have entered the country for the most part illegally. This doesn't include Puerto Ricans, long term American citizens whose failed culture contributes to their self-perpetuating economic failure, or Miami Cubans, legal residents whose middle class culture and values has made them an American success. When I use the term "illegal alien," I refer to all illegals even Irish, Asian, Eastern European, etc.

These "Hispanics" I refer to like blacks and Puerto Ricans have very high crime rates and over 50% of their children, even into the 2nd and 3rd generations are large numbers of high school dropouts, drug and welfare users, etc. These are facts, not racism, so don't try the race card with me.

 

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