Two men charged in connection with what police said was a foiled mass shooting on July 4 in Richmond, Virginia, were taken into custody without bond Monday in brief court hearings that did not provide new main points about the alleged conspiracy.
Rolman Balcarcel Ac, 38, and Julio Alvarado-Dubon, 52, both from Guatemala, were arrested for being single for possessing a firearm through a non-U. S. citizen after Richmond police said they won a call from an involved citizen who said he heard a verbal exchange indicating a planned attack at an Independence Day birthday party in the capital.
Authorities said the two men were in the United States illegally.
After receiving the tip, police seized two attack rifles, a handgun and many cartridges from the Richmond home the two men shared.
In a search warrant affidavit, a Richmond detective said the informant told police Balcárcel was planning the attack and showed him 3 guns on June 21. The informant also said Balcárcel has ties to the Los Zetas drug cartel, which operates in Mexico and the United States. States
Balcarcel’s attorney, Samuel Simpson V, said Monday he would be “very surprised” if Balcarcel Ac and Alvarado-Dubon planned a mass shooting.
“I sense that those guys are from Guatemala and they’re just here to work,” Simpson said.
Simpson also expressed skepticism about the claim that Balcárcel is connected to the Zetas. “This is nonsense to me. It’s a Guatemalan thing,” he said.
Simpson admitted that he had not yet gone to speak to Balcarcel and that he did not yet know what evidence the police had.
The search warrant affidavit states that after receiving the information, police contacted Homeland Security and then went to a home in Richmond, where Alvarado-Dubon opened the door and allowed them in.
Detective Michael Kiniri wrote that at one point the boy gave the impression and provided a Colorado identity with the so-called “Rolguy A. Balcarcel AC. “The affidavit said Balcárcel had two Colorado driver’s licenses, a Guatemalan identity card and a Mexican identity card. A Homeland Security Investigations agent decided that Balcárcel Ac had already been deported twice, the affidavit says.
Both men have been held in local jails since their arrest, with bail set at $15,000 for Alvarado-Dubon last week.
First, prosecutors had appealed the bail ruling. But when Alvarado-Dubon gave the impression in Richmond Circuit Court on Monday for a hearing, his attorney told the sentencing he agreed with prosecutors that the bail resolution deserved to be overturned because of a detainee awaiting immigration, a notice the Department of Homeland Security is issuing to tell the law. Law enforcement agencies that ICE plans to take custody of someone.
Alvarado-Dubon’s lawyer declined to comment after the brief hearing, in which no mention was made of the gun rate or alleged conspiracy.
Balcarcel arrested Monday via video broadcast; he will also continue to be held without bail. An immigration detainee also came forward against him.
At a news convention last week, Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith said the whistleblower said the attack was planned for the Dogwood Dell Amphitheater, where an annual fireworks display takes place. Smith said police didn’t know of any reason for the alleged plot.
The Richmond police announcement that they had foiled an attack came on July 6, two days after a gunman opened fire from a rooftop at a July 4 parade in the thriving Chicago suburb of Highland Park, killing seven others and wounding more than 3 dozen. .
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