Rep. Brandon Gill (R-TX) says Fairfax County, Virginia Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano (D) helped an illegal alien, accused of raping an underage teen, evade prison by offering him a deal with reduced charges and a suspended sentence.
During a hearing before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement, Gill questioned Descano about a case involving illegal alien Ander Cortez-Mendez of Guatemala.
In March 2024, Cortez-Mendez was arrested in Fairfax County and charged by Descano’s office with carnal knowledge of a 13 to 14-year-old.
“This is an illegal alien who raped an underage American,” Gill said.
Two months later, Descano’s office reduced the charges against Cortez-Mendez to a misdemeanor charge of consensual sex with a child and offered him a 90-day suspended prison sentence.
Fairfax County’s refusal to cooperate with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ensured that Cortez-Mendez was not arrested by federal agents until April 2025 — almost a year after he was convicted of the misdemeanor sex crime.
Gill repeatedly asked Descano if his office reduced the charges against Cortez-Mendez because he was an illegal alien, as he enforces an “immigration consequences” policy that urges prosecutors to take into account a defendant’s illegal alien status and whether felony charges would end up getting the illegal alien deported from the United States.
“Let me ask it a different way: Did your office reduce the charges against this illegal alien from a felony rape charge to a misdemeanor charge with a 90-day suspended jail sentence in part because this was an illegal alien in question?” Gill asked.
Descano said prosecutors “should not have” reduced Cortez-Mendez’s charges based on his illegal alien status, though he refused to give a precise answer.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Email him at [email protected].
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