No bond for the brother of accused killer of Laken Riley

The brother of the man accused of killing Athens nursing student Laken Riley will be detained without bond on his own immigration related charges until a federal grand jury decides whether or not to indict him. 

Diego Ibarra’s alleged possession of a fake permanent foreign resident ID came to light during the police investigation of Laken Riley’s death. Diego Ibarra faces no charges connected to the killing. 

Ibarra’s brother, Jose Antonio Ibarra, faces murder charges connected to Riley’s death. Another brother is detained in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin.

In denying Ibarra bond, Federal Magistrate Judge Charles Weigle said he was persuaded Ibarra posed a flight risk based on a history of disregarding U.S. immigration law. That includes ditching an ankle monitor in Colorado while enrolled in an alternative to immigration detention program. 

Weigle said that left him with few options besides detaining Ibarra.  

“The most strict conditions that I generally impose would be location monitoring and that has already been tried,” Weigle said. 

Weigle continued. 

“We have a defendant who also has been able to obtain or create fraudulent documents and be in a place hundreds and hundreds of miles away from where he was supposed to be,” Weigle said. “So I think there is every reason to be concerned that Mr. Ibarra could do that again.”

Among Ibarra’s reasons he wouldn’t flee was his plan to return to his job washing dishes at the University of Georgia’s Bolton Dining Hall, a job he'd had for a few weeks by the time of his arrest. According to documents from the University of Georgia, Ibarra was fired the same day the murder investigation surfaced what Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Bennie Bryant Jr. described in testimony as Ibarra's false green card.

Barring returning to that his UGA job, Ibarra planned to seek out what would be his fifth job in his brief time in Georgia. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Morrison objected to that. 

“That's contrary to federal law, your Honor,” Morrison said. “He cannot be employed in the United States. He's here illegally. The government believes he would treat that like the condition of the ankle monitor that was found on the side of the road in Littleton, Colo.”

Morrison said a federal grand jury will hear evidence for Ibarra’s indictment next Tuesday. If convicted of carrying the fake ID, he could face up to 10 years in prison.