Five of nine Spokane ICE protesters have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charge

A woman who pleaded guilty Tuesday to a federal charge of conspiring to impede or injure officers during a massive Spokane immigration protest earlier this year said her boyfriend was also arrested that day and eventually deported.

Bobbie Silva was the fifth defendant in the last week to plead guilty to the same felony in relation to the June 11 demonstration at Spokane’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office at the north end of Riverfront Park, where protesters tried to deter federal agents from transporting two legal immigrants to a Tacoma detention center for potential deportation.

Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart pleaded guilty Monday. Mikki Hatfield was the first of the protesters to plead guilty after admitting to the conspiracy one week ago. Erin Lang, Collin Muncey and Silva all pleaded guilty Tuesday.

“I’m pleading guilty to trying to stop the abduction of two people by putting my body in places it wasn’t wanted,” Lang said during her plea hearing Tuesday morning.

She was a little confused about the meaning of conspiracy, saying she didn’t know any of her co-conspirators, but she agreed she became a member of the conspiracy.

In Muncey’s afternoon hearing, he told U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pennell, “I obstructed a gate because of two young men being held unlawfully, in my opinion.”

The remaining four defendants – Justice Forral, Thalia Ramirez, Bajun Mavalwalla II and Jac Archer – are scheduled for trial in May on the federal conspiracy charge.

The guilty pleas stem from a plea agreement where if the defendants abide by their release conditions for 18 months, they can withdraw the felony plea in favor of a less serious misdemeanor charge. The misdemeanor pleas and subsequent sentencings could happen at status hearings in June 2027. Under the agreement, the defendants would not go to jail.

Pennell said during Tuesday’s pleas that she is under no obligation to follow the plea agreements and can impose a sentence within the law. The maximum penalty for the felony charge is six years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The defendants are expected to pay restitution in the amount of $10,900 to be spread among the defendants. Lang’s attorney, Sandy Baggett, said the restitution is to pay for property damage from the protest.

Hatfield and Silva were also charged with assaulting a federal officer amid the chaos, but under the agreement, prosecutors would move to dismiss the assault charge at sentencing.

Stuckart sparked the protest by asking people to join him at the ICE office to stop federal officers from transporting the two immigrants – 21-year-old Cesar Alexander Alvarez Perez and 28-year-old Joswar Slater Rodriguez Torres.

The young men came to the U.S. legally through a government-regulated humanitarian program and they worked at Walmart. The Trump administration didn’t extend the program.

Perez chose to self-deport because he felt it was better than being treated poorly inside Tacoma’s immigrant detention center, according to previous Spokesman-Review reporting. Torres was awaiting a hearing to be released from detention in October, but it’s unclear what came of it.

The indictment alleges the defendants and other co-conspirators blocked the driveway of the federal facility, preventing officers from exiting. They also placed trash cans, sand/cement bags, benches, signs and other objects in front of the ingresses and egresses to block the exit, prosecutors say in the indictment.

The indictment alleges Stuckart blocked a transport bus carrying the two immigrants. Stuckart and others also blocked the pathway and door to the transport bus despite orders to disperse, the indictment says.

Forral and Lang released the air from the tires of the transport bus, according to the indictment. Others painted the windshield of the bus, making it unsafe to drive.

Silva told The Spokesman-Review after Tuesday’s hearing that she was driving by that June day and saw a protest with immigration signs and figured she would join because her partner is from Mexico and she wanted to support immigrants.

“Things got a little wild,” she said. “Unfortunately, we were all put into this big loop, and when I was arrested, my boyfriend was arrested. He was deported.”

She said her boyfriend, who owned a flooring business, has been in the country for decades and showed up for all his immigration check-ins.

Since his deportation, Silva, a parent, said times have been extremely difficult, including having to move out of their house she could no longer afford on her own. She said she tries to talk to her boyfriend every day.

“I’m just looking forward to getting this behind me,” she said.