Murphy – An allegedly undocumented immigrant is being held in Georgia by U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement after he was picked up in Murphy with an alien arrest warrant on May 15.
Aviel Gonzalez Ruiz, 43, is a Mexican citizen who has been living at the West Motel, 691 Andrews Road in Murphy. He was arrested by the Murphy Police Department on April 20 for allegedly discharging a firearm inside town limits, according to court documents.
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Ruiz has a criminal record of mostly minor prior offenses. Those include driving without a license in 2011 in Rocky Mount, DWI in 2012 in Smithfield, driving impaired while license revoked in 2013 in Zebulon and skipping bail in Cherokee County in 2018, court documents show.
Bail was set at $500 secured bond on April 20 for Ruiz’ most recent arrest. He was arrested on the ICE warrant on May 15 and transferred to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., where he is being held without bail.
Stewart Detention Center is a private prison operated in Stewart County, Ga., by the Corrections Corporation of America, which is under contract with ICE primarily for housing immigrant detainees. The facility has an official capacity of 1,752 inmates.