Judge frees deported repeat DWI offender on Long Island despite prosecutors' bail request
A Suffolk County judge released Pablo Aguilar-Alvarez, a deported illegal immigrant convicted of his fourth felony DWI, without bail pending sentencing.
Suffolk County prosecutors condemned the decision of Judge Bryan Browns to release Pablo Aguilar-Alvarez without bail after his conviction for a fourth felony DWI in ten years. Aguilar-Alvarez, a 36-year-old Salvadoran who was deported on March 1, 2024, reentered the United States illegally and was arrested last year for driving with a blood-alcohol content of.17, more than twice New York’s legal limit. His criminal record includes felony DWI convictions in 2017 and 2022 and a misdemeanor in 2012.
The jury found him guilty on Friday, and he faces up to seven years in prison at a sentencing scheduled for Oct. 2. Prosecutors asked the court to hold him without bail, but Browns ordered his release pending the hearing. Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney called the defendant a “danger to society” and warned that he could reoffend while awaiting sentencing. A representative for the state Office of Court Administration did not respond to inquiries.
Why it matters
The case highlights tensions between immigration enforcement, repeat-offender sentencing and judicial bail decisions.
In this story