On October 29, discussing the recent indictment of Cory Voorhis, a federal immigration agent accused of illegally obtaining information later used by former Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez's campaign to attack then-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter (D), Peter Boyles of 630 KHOW-AM allowed founder and former director of the Colorado Alliance for Immigration Reform (CAIR) Mike McGarry to falsely claim that as Denver district attorney Ritter approved plea bargains that allowed illegal immigrants to avoid deportation. However, as Colorado Media Matters has noted, while plea deals Ritter's office approved may have helped legal immigrants avoid deportation, illegal immigrants are subject to deportation by federal officials regardless of any pleas to which they agree, according to United States 000-.html" title="blocked::http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001227000-.html">law. Further, Boyles misleadingly suggested that the five plea bargain cases cited in Beauprez's 2006 attack ad involved illegal immigrants, when in fact "[f]our of the five cases highlighted by the Beauprez campaign involved legal immigrants," according to a September 30, 2006, Rocky Mountain News article.

In addition, after a caller cited a Colorado Media Matters item noting that while in office former Republican Arapahoe County District Attorney Jim Peters approved “agricultural trespass” plea bargains similar to the ones used by Ritter's office -- including in one case involving a reported rape suspect -- Boyles hung up on him after the caller noted the source of the information, saying, “Don't couch these things. I mean, tell me where it comes from. I'll be cool with it.”

Colorado Media Matters has identified numerous instances when Boyles has made misleading or false statements regarding immigration. In fact, despite his repeated attacks on Ritter for agreeing to agricultural trespass plea bargains, Boyles in an October 17, 2006, interview with current Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers (R) did not ask Chambers about her office's reported use of the same agricultural trespass charge in plea bargains, which the News had reported just five days earlier.

As the News reported in its September 30, 2006, article, “Bob Beauprez unleashed a new attack on Bill Ritter's record as Denver district attorney late Friday, accusing him of giving five Hispanic immigrants who committed felonies plea bargains that helped them avoid deportation.” The News further reported:

The charges are highlighted in a Beauprez TV ad scheduled to run this weekend. Coloradans will choose Ritter or Beauprez as their next governor on Nov. 7.

Beauprez chose to focus on what he said were five “shocking” criminal cases where Ritter's office agreed to reduce various charges to felony trespass on agricultural land, an offense that typically doesn't require deportation for legal immigrants. Four of the five felons were here legally.

The article also quoted Ritter as saying, “I think he's [Beauprez] being terribly irresponsible in lumping legal immigrants with illegal immigrants,” and noted that Ritter “stressed that illegal immigrants can be deported just for entering the country, even if they are charged with no other crimes.”

Discussing the agricultural trespass plea bargains approved by Ritter's office on Boyles' show, McGarry said, “What we see here in this case -- at least I do -- I see where Ritter during his DA-ship purposely pled down these cases so that they weren't deportable.” He added that “now some people have argued in Ritter's behalf that while these -- of the illegals that were involved in these cases, that they were already subject to deportation, so he didn't mitigate or lessen their chances of deportation. But that's not true.”

In fact, as Ritter's campaign repeatedly stated before the November 7, 2006, election, aliens unlawfully present in the United States are always subject to deportation as 000-.html" title="blocked::http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001182000-.html http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode08/usc_sec_08_00001182000-.html">defined by federal law. Moreover, according to a June 11, 2006, News article, “unlawful presence” in the United States is in and of itself a deportable offense: “The most common charge against those caught without authorization in the U.S. is 'unlawful presence,' a civil offense. The penalty is removal, and an immigrant can be detained in the meantime.”

Discussing the 2006 gubernatorial campaign later in the broadcast, Boyles stated that “well over a year ago -- the first of a series of five ads” by Beauprez's campaign “appear[ed] attacking Ritter's record as Denver DA.” Boyles then went on to say, “First ad is on the shocking, five shocking plea deals, criminal cases involving illegals.” However, as Colorado Media Matters pointed out during the 2006 campaign, the News reported:

Four of the five cases highlighted by the Beauprez campaign involved legal immigrants from Latin America. Previously, Beauprez has chosen to focus on illegal immigration as an issue, and this marks the first time he has singled out legal immigrants as “alien felons.”

Under the law, legal immigrants can only be deported for major crimes such as murder or kidnapping.

The same September 30, 2006, News article also reported the comments of Republican immigration attorney Don Lemon, who said it was “unclear whether any of the legal immigrants cited in documents provided by the Beauprez campaign to support the ad would have been at risk of deportation by federal immigration authorities”:

Don Lemon, a Republican from Avon who is an immigration attorney, said he hadn't personally reviewed the cases Beauprez selected, but thought they sounded routine.

“It doesn't sound to me like it's 'shocking,' ” he said. “If it's a murder and they plea-bargain it down to trespass on agricultural land, then that's different.”

Boyles' October 29 claim that Ritter's office offered “shocking plea deals” in “criminal cases involving illegals” echoed comments made on his October 2, 2006, show. As Colorado Media Matters noted, while reading an October 1, 2006, Denver Post article about the agricultural trespass plea deals during Ritter's tenure as Denver's district attorney, Boyles omitted the mention of “legal immigrants” in the opening paragraph, which read: " The Denver district attorney's office under gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter approved plea bargains that prevented the deportation of illegal and legal immigrants charged with drug, assault and other crimes." Instead, Boyles stated:

The Denver district attorney's office under gubernatorial candidate Bill Ritter approved plea bargains that prevented the deportation of illegals -- uh -- charged with drug, assault and other crimes.

During the October 29 broadcast, a caller, reading from an October 31, 2006, Colorado Media Matters item, asked Boyles, "[A]re you familiar with that article that came out about the Arapahoe County DA doing some agricultural trespass cases?" After Boyles replied the he was not familiar with the article, the caller promised to send it to Boyles and later asked, “Why didn't Mr. Voorhis say something about that one?” After Boyles asked, "[W]hat website's it on?" the caller answered, “I did it on Google. It says, 'In addition, October 31 broadcast on Good Day Colorado, Fox 31 showed a clip of an ad by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez criticizing Ritter's use of agricultural trespass.'”

Boyles questioned the caller's source, saying, “I try and be straight with everybody; don't not be straight with me. What I'm saying to you is what website, what blog -- you're not reading it from Fox.” When the caller replied, “It's not a blog, Peter. It's Colorado Media Matters,” Boyles said, “Thank you,” and moved on to another call.

From the October 29 broadcast of 630 KHOW-AM's The Peter Boyles Show:

McGARRY: Immigration law enforcement depends heavily on local and state courts and DAs to prosecute serious alien criminals so that they rise to the level of deportable offenses. They depend on them to do that. What we see here in this case -- at least I do -- I see where Ritter during his DA-ship purposely pled down these cases so that they weren't deportable. Well, now some people have argued in Ritter's behalf that while these -- of the illegals that were involved in these cases, that they were already subject to deportation, so he didn't mitigate or lessen their chances of deportation. But that's not true.

BOYLES: C'mon. Quit it.

McGARRY: ICE -- go ahead.

BOYLES: No, I was going to say just quit that part of it.

McGARRY: Well, you know, ICE is absolutely overwhelmed and underfunded. They right now are looking for 600,000 absconders, convicted criminal aliens, some 240,000 child molesters. So, if somebody gets --

BOYLES: But this, these guys, some of these guys are heroin dealers.

McGARRY: That's right. So if somebody gets pled down to an agricultural trespass --

BOYLES: They're back --

McGARRY: -- they won't go in the --

BOYLES: No, they're not going home.

McGARRY: That's exactly right.

BOYLES: They're dealin' heroin.

[...]

CALLER: And then one other question, Peter. The -- are you familiar with that article that came out about the Arapahoe County DA doing some agricultural trespass cases?

BOYLES: You talking --

CALLER: The one that Julie Hayden -- on the rape case in Arapahoe County.

BOYLES: No, I'm not.

CALLER: I'll send you --

BOYLES: Please do.

CALLER: I'll send you the article. But in 2003 the DA, the Arapahoe County DA, passed a guy who raped someone in Aurora on an agricultural trespass.

BOYLES: For what reason?

CALLER: Why didn't Mr. Voorhis say something about that one?

BOYLES: OK, let's go slow. What was the rape case?

CALLER: I don't know, I'm just reading it on the Internet.

BOYLES: OK. All right, well --

CALLER: I'm going to send it to you, though, Peter.

BOYLES: I, but --

McGARRY: Was that an illegal? Did he say it was an illegal?

BOYLES: Was it an illegal?

CALLER: It was.

McGARRY: Huh?

CALLER: Yes, it was.

BOYLES: And was it -- what, what, [caller], [caller], [caller], hang on [unintelligible] a second. What, what website's it on?

CALLER: I did it on Google. It says, “In addition, October 31 broadcast on Good Day Colorado, Fox 31 showed a clip of an ad by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob Beauprez criticizing Ritter's use of agricultural trespass.”

BOYLES: OK.

CALLER: “Despite noting Bob Beauprez's blasting of Ritter in Denver, neither 31 reporter mentioned that Jim Peters, the former Arapahoe Country district attorney, whose office apparently offered [Mohammed] Abdi the 2003 agricultural trespass” --

BOYLES: So, what you're -- you're not Googling this, [caller], you're reading a, I suspect, something off of another website.

CALLER: I'll send it to you, Peter.

BOYLES: No, no, no, please don't misunderstand me. That's what Fox said, or that's what someone said about the Fox show?

CALLER: It's, it's --

BOYLES: You know what it is, and I know what it is. You're saying that someone else picks this up and that's, I would suspect, a anti-Republican blog.

CALLER: I don't think so, Peter. But my point --

BOYLES: No, no, [caller], I do think so. And please don't -- you and I -- I mean, I don't know you and I. I try and be straight with everybody; don't not be straight with me. What I'm saying to you is what website, what blog -- you're not reading it from Fox.

CALLER: It's not a blog, Peter. It's Colorado Media Matters.

BOYLES: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED SPEAKER: Yeah, there you go.

BOYLES: Thank you. All right, [caller]. All right, man. All right, let's go here. Of course it is. Let's go here. [New caller]. Don't couch these things. I mean, tell me where it comes from. I'll be cool with it. But don't try and -- now, how long did it take to get there? Four minutes?

[...]

BOYLES: Also, we were talking about this story. And I really want to help this man. And a notion really has come down to the so-called moral dilemma. If you missed the last hour, and we're gonna ride this as hard as we can. There's a man who's an ICE agent. He's 38 years of age, family guy, he's got a couple of kids, his name is Cory Voorhis. And it's believed -- in fact, Voorhis got indicted -- that he was the source to Both-Ways Bob in the Beauprez-Ritter gubernatorial run. And this is the campaign issue that continues. Somebody is angry about how this information about Ritter making ag trespass deals becomes a ad for Both-Ways Bob. A year ago and a couple of -- September 30th, so well over a year ago -- the first of a series of five ads, Both-Ways' campaign appears attacking Ritter's record as Denver DA. First ad is on the shocking, five shocking plea deals, criminal cases involving illegals.