Washington State Judge Reduces Bail from $1M to $100K for Illegal Immigrant Accused of Killing Trooper

This year, an illegal immigrant was charged with killing a Washington state trooper in a car accident. Last week, a state judge lowered his bail from $1 million to $100,000.

Raul Benitez Santana, 32, is being held at the Snohomish County Jail on charges of hitting and killing someone with a car while drunk or high. These charges are related to the death of Washington State Patrol Trooper Christopher M. Gadd, 27 years old, in March.

The first bail for Santana was $1 million, but on Wednesday, online jail records showed that his bail was lowered to $100,000.

The Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Richard Okrent dropped Santana’s bail on May 15 after his lawyers pushed for his release, according to the Everett Herald.

But in a letter to the judge, Gadd’s widow said she didn’t want Santana to be freed.

In the letter that the Herald got, Camryn Gadd said, “Lowering bail would not only make the crime seem less serious, but it would also cause me, our child, and the rest of our family more pain and distress.”

Gadd was killed just before 3 a.m. on southbound I-5 near Marysville when an SUV went off the road and hit his parked police car on the shoulder. It is said that the SUV was going very fast when the accident happened.

An earlier report from FOX13 in Seattle said they had obtained court papers that said Santana had bloodshot eyes and told police he had been drinking and smoking pot before getting in his car and driving.

An ICE agent stated that Santana is a Mexican citizen and was in the U.S. illegally after coming in at an unknown time and date. As soon as Santana was arrested, ICE put an immigration detainer on him.

The Herald said that Santana’s lawyers are now afraid that if he posts bail, federal officials may arrest him and send him back to Mexico.