(Photo by Kevin Mathewson, Kenosha County Eye)
Two felony charges and one misdemeanor charges were dismissed today in court against 56-year-old Jorge B. Trujillo, of Mexico.
Over 28 years ago, when Jorge B. Trujillo was 28-years-old, he allegedly sold cocaine to undercover law enforcement officers and a confidential informant in Kenosha County. For the controlled buys, a state agent and local police posed as drug users and met up with him on two occasions and Trujillo allegedly sold $150 worth of cocaine on April 30, 1996, and $300 worth on June 25, 1996. A warrant was issued and he was pulled over and arrested on December 17, 1996. He was allegedly in possession of a “small amount of cocaine” on this date.
On December 18, 1996, he was charged with two counts of Felony Delivery Of Cocaine and one count of Possession Of Cocaine. He faced 21 years in the Wisconsin Prison System. This, however, was before truth-in-sentencing, so he would likely not have served that many years in prison.
Trujillo was given a $10,000 cash bail, which he posted. He would never be seen in Kenosha County for the next 28 years. He fled to Mexico. On January 28, 1997, Court Commissioner Carl Greco issued a $100,000 warrant. Trujillo remained in Mexico, seemingly until this year, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement captured Trujillo in Texas. Law Enforcement asked DA Mike Graveley (D) if he wanted to spend the tens of thousands of dollars to extradite and prosecute Trujillo to Kenosha with no knowledge of the case. He agreed to do so. Trujillo was booked into the Kenosha County Jail on June 12, 2024.
(Kenosha County Sheriff)
The evidence, including a photo used to identify Trujillo, and most of the drugs, has been destroyed in the last 28 years, making the case difficult or impossible for the successful prosecution of the case.
A member of the legal community told KCE that DA Graveley made a mistake by paying the large amount of money to prosecute this case as it likely isn’t winnable. “[Graveley] should have evaluated this case and checked on the evidence and witnesses before he extradited this man. That’s why the statute of limitations exist. After almost three decades, it’s almost impossible to win a case. Evidence gets destroyed, witnesses die or are unavailable.” Trujillo will likely be deported either way.
Trujillo’s attorney had previously told the court that he just wants to go back to Mexico and be with his family. Graveley, instead, wants Trujillo in Wisconsin’s prisons.
9 Responses
Did the state of WI pay to have him extradited, or Kenosha? Money well spent….
Sounds like one of those episodes in locked up abroad where some poor mope gets fkd up by a country imprisoning them for some insane amount of time for minor drug charges…
gravely strikes again with waste of tax payer money , Lucky he is going bye bye and this stupid stuff will stop
Should have Gravely pay that bill before he leaves
Gravely will have a party when he leaves with all of the hack prosecutors who are leaving, where they will all laud the great job he did as DA. Good riddance.
So we just let drug dealers free now? 🤦🏼♀️
Do you want literally millions of our taxpayer money to go towards fetching people from across the U.S….. all for minor crimes…..?
Example: John Schmo has a battery charge from a bar fight 15 years ago. He paid a $200 bond, then went to California. YOU want him apprehended….
So, we pay $4,000 to a transport company to get him and drive back from California. He gets put in the jail, fed and clothed and goes to his initial appearance. We pay for all the court costs and fees and jail costs.
Meanwhile John Schmo’s kids are hungry because he’s not there to work and pay the bills. His rent is past due.
He sits here at OUR expense for two weeks. He gets a deal… time served.
We lost a ton of money because Schmo had a bad night 15 years ago. The guy he hit who insulted his mom has forgiven him long ago. Schmo is now stranded in Wisconsin while he tries to find a way home.
Are YOU going to drive him back to California?
There are tons of people right here in Kenosha that have warrants. Let’s deal with them. They are the local frequent flyers filling the jail and wasting everyone’s time. Unless it’s a murderer or child molester level crime, we don’t need to hunt down long gone mopes.
28 years later when there is no remaining evidence and costing the county tens of thousands of doallrs? Yes.
Good for him! Now he needs to take his taco ass back to Mexico and don’t ever come back.