At least three ICE detainees from Routt County have criminal records
At least three men recently detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after bonding out of Routt County Jail have criminal records in Colorado, according to documents obtained by the newspaper.
Darwin Mejia-Cruz, 27, Victoriano Cayetano Leon, 42, and Nelson Martinez Espinoza, 44, are all currently in custody at the Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora.
Mejia-Cruz, who allegedly fired a gun in the air nine times at the Dream Island mobile home park in Steamboat Springs in early January, was arrested for the first time in Colorado by the Routt County Sheriff’s Office in 2015 for possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia and narcotic equipment.
Since 2015, Mejia-Cruz has been arrested six more times and faced charges such as prohibited use of a weapon, theft, DUIs and other traffic offenses. All of his Colorado arrests were made in Routt and Moffat counties.
Cayetano Leon was arrested Dec. 13 after allegedly stealing around 500 gallons of fuel worth more than $2,000 from the Pilot Flying J gas station. His first arrest in Colorado was in Jefferson County in 2015 for assault. He was arrested eight more times after that.
Cayetano Leon has faced charges such as intimidation and stalking, violation of a protection order, tampering with evidence, robbery and vehicle theft, child abuse, harassment, fraud and traffic offenses. His Colorado arrests span Denver, Jefferson, Adams and Routt counties.
Martinez Espinoza was arrested for alleged domestic violence and theft earlier this month and was first arrested in Colorado by the Steamboat Springs Police for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs in 2023. Those are Martinez Espinoza’s only two arrests in Colorado.
The three men were then arrested by ICE. They are now in custody in the ICE Denver Contract Detention Facility in Aurora.
The Steamboat Pilot & Today contacted the Denver ICE public affairs to inquire about the number of people arrested by ICE in Routt and Moffat counties since the beginning of the year, however, the information could not be provided before the deadline for this newspaper.
Mejia-Cruz and Martinez-Espinoza are scheduled to appear virtually in the Routt County Court for status conferences on Feb. 26.
Routt County Sheriff Doug Scherar previously said it is his understanding that ICE is currently focusing on arresting undocumented individuals with criminal charges who are “a threat to public safety.”
Scherar also previously stated that under Colorado state law, his office is not permitted to comply with ICE “detainer” requests for inmates that are held in the Routt County Jail. However, ICE is alerted to the inmate’s citizenship status and is notified if they are released on bond.
According to the ICE Enforcement and Removal website, undocumented individuals in custody are categorized by those with criminal convictions, pending criminal charges and “those with no convictions or pending charges but who have broken U.S. immigration laws.”
However, the website further states that the third category includes “individuals without any known criminal convictions or pending charges who have repeatedly violated U.S. law by reentering after deportation, immigration fugitives with a final order of removal by an immigration judge and foreign fugitives wanted for crimes committed abroad.”
It is unclear how the latest criminal cases against the known ICE detainees will proceed in the 14th Judicial District.
According to District Attorney Matt Karzen, his office communicates with the ICE regional representative regarding the legal status of someone facing charges, as well as if they will be detained and deported.
Karzen added that people facing state criminal charges are still able to seek counsel from a public defender’s office.
A request for comment from the Colorado State Public Defender’s office was not returned this week. The Steamboat Pilot & Today is closely following ICE detainments in Routt and Moffat counties and will continue to provide updated information as it is made available.

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