Colorado Attorney General: Deputy Who Alerted ICE to Utah Student Violated State Law

A Mesa County sheriff’s deputy violated state law when he shared information with federal officials that led to a Utah college student’s immigration arrest last month, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Tuesday.
Weiser filed a civil complaint against Investigator Alexander Zwinck alleging the deputy knowingly assisted in federal immigration enforcement by sharing information about 19-year-old Caroline Dias Goncalves in a Signal group chat, which is prohibited by state law.
The attorney general’s office is also launching a wider pattern-and-practice investigation into the Signal group chat, which included a number of Colorado law enforcement agencies, to find out whether other state departments also assisted in federal immigration enforcement, Weiser said.

MESA COUNTY, Colorado -- A Mesa County sheriff’s deputy violated state law when he shared information with federal officials that led to a Utah college student’s immigration arrest last month, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser announced Tuesday.

Weiser filed a civil complaint against Investigator Alexander Zwinck alleging the deputy knowingly assisted in federal immigration enforcement by sharing information about 19-year-old Caroline Dias Goncalves in a Signal group chat, which is prohibited by state law.

The attorney general’s office is also launching a wider pattern-and-practice investigation into the Signal group chat, which included a number of Colorado law enforcement agencies, to find out whether other state departments also assisted in federal immigration enforcement, Weiser said.

The deputy purposely stalled Dias Goncalves so federal immigration officers could get into position to arrest her, and passed on details about the make and model of her car, her license plate and her direction and timing of travel to the federal officers, knowing it would be used for immigration enforcement, Weiser said during a news conference.

Zwinck later congratulated the federal officers when they detained the student, Weiser said.

“These actions by the sheriff’s deputy were for the sole purpose of immigration enforcement,” Weiser said.

Zwinck could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Colorado law prohibits local law enforcement officers from carrying out civil immigration enforcement and largely blocks local police agencies from working with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The state’s investigation into Zwinck also found at least one other instance in which he unlawfully participated in federal immigration enforcement, Weiser said, noting that one officer commented that the deputy would be named “ERO interdictor of the year,” a reference to ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations division.

Weiser brought the civil complaint — a lawsuit — against Zwinck individually because that is the path established for violations of this particular state law, he said. The violation is not a criminal offense.

Zwinck can contest the attorney general’s allegations — in which case the state would pursue a court order prohibiting Zwinck from continuing to help with federal immigration enforcement — or he can admit the law violation and voluntarily agree to stop such enforcement in a court-enforced agreement known as a consent decree, Weiser said. The office could also pursue fines against Zwinck.

“The problem here is this deputy did the job of federal immigration enforcement, stepped outside of the role he should have been following,” Weiser said. “And that was the line he should have been following.”

Dias Goncalves, who attends the University of Utah, came to the U.S. from Brazil with her family when she was 7 and overstayed a tourist visa. She has a pending asylum application, according to the Salt Lake Tribune.

Zwinck pulled her over on June 5 on Interstate 70 near Loma because she was following a semitrailer too closely. At about 1:40 p.m., he shared a picture of her driver’s license in the Signal group chat so that federal agents could run her information through a number of databases that are only accessible to them, Weiser alleged in the lawsuit.

“Not seeing crim history, but I believe she has immigration issues,” a federal officer responded. “We are confirming.”

Zwinck at that point should have ended the traffic stop, Weiser said. Instead, he questioned Dias Goncalves about her accent and where she was from — she said she was born in Brazil. He shared his location with the federal agents, who responded that they were en route. He kept Dias Goncalves for about 15 minutes, then let her go with a warning at about 1:55 p.m.

He told the federal officers they could turn around, because “she’s gone,” the complaint alleges. He then told the officers her direction of travel, described her vehicle and provided a license plate number. The officers responded that they would “give it a shot,” the complaint says.

They pulled Dias Goncalves over near Grand Junction a few moments later and detained her for civil immigration enforcement.

“Rgr, nice work,” Zwinck responded.

Dias Goncalves was held in custody in Aurora for more than two weeks before she was released on bail.

The Signal group chat included a mix of local and federal officers and was used for regional drug-smuggling enforcement, according to the Mesa County Sheriff’s Office. A spokeswoman previously said deputies did not know the information shared in the chat was used for immigration enforcement and said the sheriff’s office pulled out of the chat after Dias Goncalves’ detainment.

Weiser alleged that Zwinck provided information to federal immigration authorities multiple times between May and June. On June 10, he sent a photo of another person’s driver’s license to the group chat, the complaint alleges.

“After being told that the individual had overstayed a visa and that the federal immigration officers ‘would want him,’ Deputy Zwinck responded, ‘Oh my gosh. We better get some bitchin (sic) Christmas baskets from you guys,'” the complaint alleges.

Zwinck was placed on administrative leave after the incident. Molly Casey, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office, said in a statement Tuesday that the internal investigation into Zwinck is expected to be finished within a week.

“We are committed to transparency in this process,” she said, adding that the sheriff’s office would comment further once the investigation is complete.