Image Credit: Residences at Hardin Valley / Facebook
Tennessee Conservative News Staff –
A motion to dismiss has been filed in the case of two contractors accused of trying to harbor illegal aliens for financial gain while interfering with ICE law enforcement actions at a construction site in Hardin Valley.
33-year-old Tyler Shane Wells, of Morristown, TN, and 18-year-old Alexander Bonilla-Servin, of Smyrna, TN, allegedly conspired to prevent ICE officers from taking six illegal aliens into custody.
Records state that Bonilla-Servin used his truck to block officers from entering the construction site and also struck a law enforcement vehicle with the truck.
Officers allege that Bonilla-Servin conducted surveillance on the agents before eventually using the truck “as a dangerous and deadly weapon.”
The two face a number of charges, including:
- to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for the purpose of commercial advantage and private financial gain, in violation of 8 U.S.C § 1324;
- to forcibly impede federal agents while engaged in the performance of official duties, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 111; and
- to prevent, by force, intimidation, or threat, federal agents from discharging their official duties, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 372.
A new motion was filed, asking that eight of the charges included in their indictment be dropped.
The motion argues that the laws concerning seven of the charges are unconstitutionally vague, specfically a section that states that it is a crime when a person “conceals, harbors, or shields from detection… such alien in any place, including any building or any means of transportation[.]”
They claim that the law does not provide a definition for the terms conceal, harbor, and shield.
The motion asked for another to have another charge that alleges the pair conspired to prevent agents from their official duties dismissed, claiming that officers were not engaged in their lawful duties and potentially did not have a warrant.
Bonilla-Servin and Wells both pleaded not guilty to the charges. Bonilla-Servin was conditionally released, but Wells was ordered to remain in jail until his trial. The trial is scheduled to begin in March.
