The Manistee County Courthouse and Government Center is located at 415 Third St. in Manistee.
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A Venezuelan citizen who was a driver in an attempted ATM theft in Filer Township was sentenced in court Monday and is expected to be deported.
Gerald Alessandro Rodriguez Pereira, 21, appeared in front of Manistee County’s 19th Circuit Court Judge David Thompson.
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Rodriguez Pereira was sentenced to six months in jail for two counts of attempted safe breaking. He was given credit for 143 days served.
Attempted safe breaking is a five-year felony. However, with legislative guidelines scored at zero to nine months in his case, it was presumed that he would not serve time in jail.
On April 20, Rodriguez Pereira pleaded guilty to two counts of attempted safe breaking. In exchange for his pleas, the prosecutor agreed to dismiss two counts of safe breaking and one count of conspiring to commit safe breaking.
He is one of two charged after the Manistee County Sheriff’s Office investigated a Jan. 16 incident reported at the 4Front Credit Union when an ATM alarm was activated in Filer Township.
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Thompson said it was believed that Rodriguez Pereira and his codefendant Jean Carlos Ramirez-Solano were “being used or manipulated by other individuals that have not been apprehended.”
Rodriguez Pereira’s attorney described Rodriguez Pereira as a “good kid” who had been doing well in school as an “exemplary honor student.”
An academic mentor, a teacher and youth program director each wrote letters on behalf of Rodriguez Pereira describing him as an outstanding student and young man.
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“But for Gerald being from Venezuela, this would be a different outcome,” defense attorney Jesse Williams said. “If he was a U.S. citizen, he could have potentially avoided this conviction with a Holmes Youthful Trainee assignment.”
The Holmes Youthful Trainee Act applies to some cases where a person between ages of 17 and 24 is facing criminal offenses and can be relieved of a public criminal record if they follow court orders.
“It appears the federal government is prepared, ready, willing and able to return you to Venezuela,” Thompson said. “For that reason, it does not appear just or proportionate to extend your stay in the Manistee County Jail or in Michigan Department of Corrections.”
Rodriguez Pereira has no prior criminal record since arriving in the U.S. in 2023.
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Williams said that because of the immigration hold from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, probation wasn’t an option for Rodriguez Pereira and he was facing deportation.
When given a chance to address the court prior to sentencing, Rodriguez Pereira spoke through a translator saying he assumed responsibility for his actions and asked for clemency to be able to stay in the U.S.
Thompson and Williams explained to Rodriguez Pereira that the circuit court did not have the authority to control whether he was deported or not.
“I hope if and when you return to Venezuela that you continue to demonstrate character traits that these three individuals (who wrote supportive letters) have observed in you and find a way not to be manipulated and/or used or engage yourself in further criminal behavior,” Thompson said to Rodriguez Pereira.
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He was ordered to pay a $130 crime victim assessment, $136 in state costs and a $60-DNA testing fee. He was also ordered to pay $821.66 with Ramirez-Solano.
Ramirez-Solano, 19, of Chicago, was ordered to serve six months in jail for two charges of attempted safe breaking on May 18. He was given credit for four months served. He also is required to pay $130 for a crime victim rights assessment and $136 in state costs.
There had also been an immigration detainer by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for Ramirez-Solano and he could be deported after the court case concludes.
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Court records from May 18 indicate that Ramirez-Solano would become available to the U.S. agency and a decision will be made at a later date as to where Ramirez-Solano would go.