Suspect in Peddling Scheme Is Denied Bail
A federal magistrate judge denied bail Tuesday for one of three men arrested in Los Angeles and accused of smuggling deaf Mexican immigrants into the country to force them to sell trinkets on the streets.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Tom Warren said Andreas Pfeiffer, a German national legally living in the United States, offered to put up $2,000 in cash, which his mother gave him, as bail.
But U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Wistrich agreed with Warren that Pfeiffer, who faces federal charges in New York, poses a flight risk. He ruled that the man, who is also hearing-impaired, must stay in jail.
Pfeiffer was arrested last Wednesday in Koreatown along with two other men. According to the federal complaint, the men are part of a nationwide ring that allegedly has been smuggling deaf Mexican immigrants into the United States since at least 1995.
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