Colonel Inocente Orlando Montano, former vice minister of public security and one of the men allegedly behind the assassination of six Jesuits at the UCA in 1989, was arrested earlier today on charges of lying on immigration documents.
According to a complaint unsealed this afternoon, Montano wrote in federal documents that he never served in the El Salvadoran military when he applied for special protection under federal immigration laws.
In fact, according to the complaint, Montano served in the Salvadoran military from 1963 until 1994 when he retired with the rank of colonel. Immigration agents searched Montano’s Everett apartment two days after the Globe’s story and discovered a 1983 Salvadoran military identification card in his name showing he had the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Prosecutors said they are seeking to detain Montano unless he agrees to electronic monitoring, a requirement his attorney said he is wiling to live with. Montano’s initial appearance in court is expected to resume later this afternoon. It's pretty bad that such a high ranking officer implicated in such a heinous crime could so easily hide his past.
So, what's next? Montano will go before the judge this afternoon. After that, who knows?
I imagine that authorities could prosecute Montano and give him jail time for immigration fraud. They could deport him to his native country, El Salvador, and then let Salvadoran authorities deal with him. Finally, they could extradite him to Spain to stand trial in the deaths of the Jesuit martyrs which would put additional pressure upon the Salvadoran courts.
This could get really uncomfortable for the US, Spain and El Salvador.
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