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Mexican man sentenced for new and 18-year old crimes

Omar Macias entered the country illegally at least twice

Omar Macias will spend three years in prison for a string of criminal behavior that stretches back to 2001. He was deported once, sneaked back into the U.S. illegally, and was busted for a DUI.
Eagle County Sheriff’s Office

EAGLE — A man in the country illegally was deported a decade and a half ago after a string of minor crimes. However, he returned to the U.S. and was charged with drunk driving.

Omar Macias will spend three years in state prison for five separate cases, including one that stretches back to 2001, a couple from 2002 and one from 2004.

It was a 2018 DUI that got him. He was driving too fast, prosecutors said, and that’s what attracted the attention of the law enforcement officers who pulled Macias over.



Macias was sentenced Wednesday for all five cases. Judge Paul Dunkelman ordered that his sentences run concurrently.

“He had some of the best excuses I’ve ever heard,” Deputy District Attorney Johnny Lombardi said during Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.

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Macias’ description of himself as a solid citizen is “laughable,” Lombardi said.

“Everyone has a vendetta against him. They’re all out to get him,” Lombardi said, referring to Macias’ statements in a presentencing report.

A harassment charge stemmed from Macias threatening his girlfriend, then choking her. He told her to break up with him and she “just couldn’t handle it,” Lombardi said.

He did plead guilty in the 2000s

Terry O’Connor, Macias’ defense attorney, said his client did plead guilty to those charges in the early 2000s. He was transferred to Steamboat Springs and was deported from there.

He was nailed for that 2018 DUI a decade and a half later, after returning to the U.S. illegally.

During Wednesday’s sentencing hearing, his mother said she would hate to see him sent to Mexico because it’s “violent” and “terrible.”

Macias apologized for his “bad decisions,” and said he wants help for his drug and alcohol problems.

“That’s all I’m asking for, your honor,” he told Judge Dunkelman.

Dunkelman said Macias could find that sort of help in the state prison system, and that he would have to seek it out.


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