A judge in the sanctuary state of Washington has cut bail by 90 percent for the illegal alien accused of killing 27-year-old Washington State Trooper Christopher Gadd.
Raul Benitez Santana, a 33-year-old illegal alien from Mexico with multiple run-ins with the law, was arrested and charged with vehicular homicide in connection with Gadd’s death.
According to prosecutors, on March 2, Gadd was parked on the shoulder of an interstate in Snohomish County when eyewitnesses said Santana crashed into him. Santana, eyewitnesses said, was swerving and speeding at the time.
Gadd was killed as a result of the crash, prosecutors said, leaving behind his wife Cammryn and their two-year-old daughter.
When police arrived at the scene of the crash, they found Santana with bloodshot eyes; he later admitted to smoking marijuana and having two beers before getting behind the wheel.
Santana’s bail was initially set at $1 million. Last week, though, Judge Richard Okrent lowered his bail to $100,000 after Santana’s defense attorneys argued his initial bail amount was excessively high for a vehicular homicide suspect.
Following Santana’s arrest in March, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials confirmed that he is an illegal alien who has been living in Washington for at least a decade. In May 2013, Santana was arrested in the state for driving without a license and later sentenced to 90 days in prison for having marijuana.
Later that year, Santana was incarcerated for 90 days after failing to appear in court for charges of driving without a license. In May 2019, he was charged with domestic violence.
Likely thanks to Snohomish County’s sanctuary policy, as well as Washington’s sanctuary state law, signed by Gov. Jay Inslee (D) in 2019, Santana was never turned over to ICE agents despite his prior arrests.
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