By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-20 19:12:21 | Updated at 2025-04-06 09:21:39
2 weeks ago
The two brothers of the Venezuelan man who killed Georgia nursing student Laken Riley will be deported after they confessed to possessing fake green cards.
Killer Jose Ibarra, 27, was convicted in November of murdering Riley after kidnapping her with intent to rape on February 22, 2024, when she was 22 years old in a case that shocked America.
Now, his brothers Diego Ibarra, 29 and Argenis Ibarra, 25, are being deported from the US over separate crimes, along with their former roommate Rosbeli Flores-Belo, 29, the Justice Department said.
Diego was taken into custody after he gave a counterfeit green card to a police officer investigating Riley's death.
Argenis and Rosbeli were later also found to have fake IDs, and agents also found counterfeit Social Security cards for the pair, the Justice Department said.
Diego was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in July to two counts of possessing a fraudulent document.
He is due to be transferred to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation after he completes his sentence.
Argenis and Robselli were each were sentenced Wednesday to time served after pleading guilty in December to one count of possessing a fraudulent document.
The two brothers of the Venezuelan man who killed Georgia nursing student Laken Riley (pictured) will be deported after they confessed to possessing fake green cards
The killer's brothers, Diego Ibarra (left), 29, and Argenis Ibarra (right), 25, are being deported from the US over separate crimes, along with their former roommate Rosbeli Flores-Belo, 29
Killer Jose Ibarra (pictured), 27, was convicted in November of murdering Riley after kidnapping her with intent to rape on February 22, 2024, when she was 22 years old
They were to be immediately turned over to ICE for deportation, according to the Justice Department news release. The statement did not elaborate on those deportation plans.
Federal authorities said they believe that Diego Ibarra is affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TDA) based on his tattoos and social media photos of him making signs and wearing clothes associated with the gang.
Diego's tattoos include a five-point crown on his neck, a symbol associated with the TDA.
The gang came into the national spotlight after shocking footage showed apparent members taking over an apartment complex in Aurora, Colorado.
TDA started in Venezuela's prisons and has spread through the western hemisphere as the oil-rich nation goes through the worst migrant crisis in the world.
Ibarra, an undocumented migrant, was sentenced in November to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of Riley.
The Venezuela native, 26, had pleaded not guilty to the killing near the University of Georgia campus in Athens.
Prosecutors had declined to seek the death penalty in the case.
Ibarra stared coldly as the verdict was read while his victim's family sobbed in court.
The killer's brothers, Diego Ibarra, 29, and Argenis Ibarra (pictured), 25, are being deported from the US over separate crimes, along with their former roommate Rosbeli Flores-Belo, 29
Diego Ibarra (pictured) was sentenced Wednesday to four years in federal prison after pleading guilty in July to two counts of possessing a fraudulent document
He also did not show emotion as Riley's heartbroken mother pleaded with the judge to give the killer the maximum punishment, calling him a 'monster.'
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard found Ibarra guilty after he waived his right to a jury trial.
Ibarra was convicted of all 10 counts against him: malice murder, felony murder, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, aggravated battery, obstructing an emergency call, evidence tampering and being a peeping Tom.
The case fueled the immigration debate during last year's presidential election, with Republicans using it as an argument against Joe Biden and his immigration policies.
President Donald Trump reacted to the verdict, writing on Truth social at the time: 'JUSTICE FOR LAKEN RILEY! The Illegal who killed our beloved Laken Riley was just found GUILTY on all counts for his horrific crimes.
'Although the pain and heartbreak will last forever, hopefully this can help bring some peace and closure to her wonderful family who fought for Justice, and to ensure that other families don’t have to go through what they have.
'We love you, Laken, and our hearts will always be with you. It is time to secure our Border, and remove these criminals and thugs from our Country, so nothing like this can happen again!'
Following the sentencing, Republican state senator Colton Moore called on attorney general Chris Carr to demand that Ibarro be given the death penalty.
'District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez let her radical political agenda stand in the way of justice,' Moore said on X. 'By refusing to seek the death penalty, she denied Laken’s family, friends, and community the full measure of justice they deserve.'
Georgia nursing student Laken Riley (pictured) was murdered by Jose Ibarra, 27, last February
Jose Ibarra (pictured), 27, was convicted in November of murdering Riley after kidnapping her with intent to rape on February 22, 2024, when she was 22 years old
Riley's body was found less than an hour after she was reported missing, near a lake on the University of Georgia campus. She had been a student there until 2023, when she transferred to Augusta.
Prosecutors called more than a dozen law enforcement officers for the trial, as well as Riley’s roommates and a woman who lived in the same apartment as Ibarra.
They showed selfies that Ibarra had taken on his phone just hours before attacking the student. That's how police were able to prove that the phone that pinged close to where Riley was found was used by the killer.
'He went hunting for females on the University of Georgia campus. When Laken Riley refused to be his victim, he bashed her skull in with a rock repeatedly,' prosecutor Sheila Ross told the court.
Riley fought for her life for 18 minutes while Ibarra attempted to rape her before having her life snuffed out. DNA and digital evidence found on her body later tied him to the crime,
'She marked her killer for the entire world to see. It is his DNA. Only his DNA, underneath Laken's right fingernails,' Georgia special prosecutor Sheila Ross said.
'He left behind his thumbprint on her iPhone, which was found near her body at the crime scene.'
Defense attorney Dustin Kirby said in his opening that Riley’s death was a tragedy and called the evidence in the case graphic and disturbing. But he said there was not sufficient evidence to prove that his client killed Riley.
Georgia nursing student Laken Riley (pictured) was murdered by Jose Ibarra, 27, last February
Laken Riley was a nursing student at Georgia University. She was just 22 when she died
The defense team called a police officer, a jogger and one of Ibarra’s neighbors on Tuesday and rested their case Wednesday morning.
On Friday prosecutors said Ibarra's DNA was a direct match to the DNA under Riley's fingernails, and was '10 billion times more probable than a coincidental match.'
They also showed images of suspicious scratches on Ibarra's body at the time of his arrest.
The judge said that as he listened to the closing arguments, he wrote down on a legal pad two things the lawyers had said.
He noted that prosecutor Sheila Ross called the evidence 'overwhelming and powerful' and that defense attorney Kaitlyn Beck reminded him he was 'required to set aside my emotions' in making his ruling.
Ibarra illegally entered the US through US-Mexico border in 2022 and was allowed to stay in the country while he pursued his immigration case.
He has been identified as a member of the brutal Tren de Aragua gang.
