Freeport man who pleaded guilty to rape charge asks judge to vacate conviction after being deported while awaiting sentencing

A lapse by the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office to retrieve a Freeport rapist from federal detention amid the Trump administration's immigration crackdown could allow the man to vacate his conviction.

The attorney for Alex Morales-Dominguez, 33, a Honduran man who admitted having sex with a 16-year-old Hicksville girl he met at a local gym, asked a Nassau County judge this week to dismiss the case against his client because the county sheriff failed to bring him back to court for his sentence.

Morales-Dominguez pleaded guilty in October 2025 to third-degree rape in exchange for a 6-month jail sentence, with 10 years of post-release supervision, under a deal with prosecutors that was signed off on by a judge.

Before the sentence could be handed down, however, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested Morales-Dominguez, who is not in this country legally, on Dec. 2, 2025, according to his defense attorney, Christopher Graziano, after a meeting with the probation department, and held him in a detention center in El Paso, Texas.

Federal agents were tipped off to his location by the county probation department, which works with ICE agents under an agreement with Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman to help further President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration policy.

Due to his detention, Morales-Dominguez missed his Dec. 18, 2025, sentencing date because he was still in El Paso awaiting the deportation decision of an immigration court, according to court papers. His Nassau appearance was rescheduled for Jan. 15. He was still in Texas on that date and missed that sentencing hearing as well, records show.

In February, Nassau prosecutor Amber Kempermann told state Supreme Court Justice Teresa Corrigan during a hearing that she had filed a court-ordered writ to the county sheriff’s department and ICE officials in Texas to demand Morales-Dominguez’s return to Nassau County to be sentenced for the rape case.

"It appears Nassau County may be the reason why he is not here," Corrigan said during the hearing.

Graziano, in his application to have the case dismissed, pointed out that prosecutors waited until Jan. 21, seven weeks after learning of his detention, to file the writ for his client’s return.

An immigration court in Texas ordered Morales-Dominguez to be deported on Jan. 23, the lawyer said.

Prosecutors obtained another court-ordered writ on Feb. 19 to have him return for his sentencing date, which had been rescheduled for April 8, records show.

Morales-Dominquez was deported back to his native Honduras on March 12, his lawyer said in court papers.

"Upon information and belief, the Sheriff did not attempt to execute either order of the court to produce him," Graziano said in his motion. "The failure of the Nassau County Sheriff to produce Mr. Morales-Dominguez has resulted in his sentence being indefinitely delayed."

The defense lawyer noted under New York State Court rules, "a sentence must be imposed without unreasonable delay."

Graziano also faulted prosecutors for waiting to obtain a court order to bring him back from immigration detention in Texas.

"Now it is unknown whether Morales-Dominguez could ever be sentenced in this case," Graziano said in his motion. "This indefinite delay in sentencing has resulted in a loss of jurisdiction over the defendant."

Blakeman did not respond to a request for comment, but he previously told Newsday that getting Morales-Dominguez out of the country was a benefit, arguing he’s saved taxpayer money by avoiding incarceration in the county jail.

"He may be saving money for the taxpayers, but you have victims’ families not getting the justice they want," Graziano said.

The victim in the Morales-Dominguez case and her family have not been identified and could not be reached for comment on his deportation.

Blakeman’s position puts him at odds with Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, who declined to comment on the motion.

"Our goal remains ensuring that this defendant is punished for his unlawful actions and that his victim knows justice," DA spokeswoman Nicole Turso told Newsday in February. "We are considering our options with cooperation from the court to see that this defendant is ultimately sentenced."

Prosecutors have until May 13 to reply to the motion to dismiss the case. The judge promised to rule on the case by June 12.

Morales-Dominguez is not the first migrant to be deported before he could be sentenced in Nassau County Court.

Wilfredo Blanco Molina, 41, pleaded guilty to aggravated vehicular homicide after admitting that he was high on cocaine and drunk when he slammed into Robert McCarthy on Old Country Road in Westbury in October 2024.

Molina left the scene of the crime but stopped half a mile down the road due to a flat tire.

He, too, was picked up at the county probation department by ICE agents and sent back to his native El Salvador in December, avoiding a 12-year prison sentence in New York.

Newsday has identified nearly two dozen other cases involving migrants deported during the course of their criminal case.

"This is going to happen over and over again because the policy Mr. Blakeman has issued is going to result in more and more people getting deported before their sentencing," Graziano said.