ICE deportation of Salvadoran man convicted of fatal DWI crash means he could evade sentencing

A Salvadoran man facing up to 12 years behind bars after he fatally struck a 69-year-old Hicksville man on a bicycle could evade prison time after federal immigration officials deported him to his native country in December despite the Nassau district attorney’s attempt to see him face justice.

Wilfredo Blanco Molina, 41, was scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty in September to aggravated vehicular homicide, second-degree manslaughter, driving while intoxicated, leaving the scene of an accident and other charges. Instead he is back in El Salvador, free, with his family, according to his immigration attorney.

He admitted being drunk and high on cocaine just before 4 a.m. on Oct. 27, 2024, when he swerved his 2006 Chrysler Sebring and struck Robert McCarthy, who was biking east on Old Country Road near State Street in Westbury, court records say.

Molina continued about a quarter mile down the road, where he stopped because of a flat tire, prosecutors said. Officers saw the disabled car and stopped to help him. That’s when they noticed the damage to the passenger side headlight, mirror and blood on the front bumper, authorities said.

Police found cocaine in his pocket and tests showed his blood alcohol level at 0.22%, nearly three times the legal limit, two hours after the fatal crash, court records say.

Molina is a married father of two children who worked in event design and setup and lived in Hicksville. He was released on $10,000 cash bail on March 17, 2025, according to the New York State courts website.

His lawyer on the criminal case, Christopher Graziano, said, and court records confirm, that his client returned for each scheduled court appearance until after his guilty plea on Sept. 30, when he was ordered to report to the Nassau County Department of Probation for his pre-sentence report.

A presentence report allows probation officials to assess the severity of a defendant’s crime and weigh any aggravating or mitigating factors before making a recommendation for punishment to the judge.

Graziano said as Molina left the probation office, agents with the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency arrested him and sent him to Pine Prairie ICE Processing Center in Louisiana on Dec. 10.

The Nassau district attorney filed paperwork on Dec. 16 with immigration officials, asking he be held in the country. But an immigration judge issued a removal order authorizing his deportation.

"In the meantime, even before the removal order was issued, I know the DA’s office was working to file the writ," to hold him in the United States, Graziano told Newsday.

ICE did not return a request for comment. Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who has encouraged cooperation between local authorities and ICE, did not respond to a request for comment.

McCarthy's family couldn't be reached for comment but a spokeswoman for the Nassau district attorney's office said it had been in touch with the family throughout the case. 

Molina's immigration lawyer, Rosemarie Barnett, said his client has temporary protected status to be in the United States but when he went to renew it, it was canceled because of the criminal case.

A person from El Salvador who arrived in the United States prior to 2001 is allowed to remain in the country under a temporary protective order as long as they renew it every 18 months.

Molina arrived in the United States in the 1990s.

"He came to the United States as a young man, to flee from the devastation of the civil war in El Salvador combined with the crazy gang situation," Barnett told Newsday.

She confirmed Molina arrived in El Salvador on Dec. 19. Barnett told Newsday her client's family said he is not behind bars and is staying with them in El Salvador.

"I don't know if the long arm of the law from the United States will seek extradition, but right now he is not incarcerated," she said.

In a hearing on the criminal case,  acting Supreme Court Justice Teresa K. Corrigan acknowledged the case was taking place in "unique times" and she issued a warrant for Molina to be brought back for sentencing, telling the defense attorney: "I can't imagine that it's going to be held against you in the future if it takes you forever or if you're never able to get him back here."

Usually, if a defendant fails to appear at a sentencing, he's considered a fugitive of justice and his sentencing agreement could be jeopardized. Prosecutors asked for a sentence of 7 to 21 years. Under the plea deal, he was to receive a sentence of 4 to 12 years.

"My office is going to have to investigate whether we have the ability to extradite this defendant," Assistant District Attorney Katie Zizza told the judge.

Nicole Turso, a spokeswoman for Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly, confirmed Molina had been deported despite the office’s attempts to keep him in the country.

. " "We are disappointed that despite those efforts, this defendant was not produced today to accept his punishment and finally be held accountable for taking Robert McCarthy’s life," Turso said.

Graziano faulted Blakeman's policies on ICE working with local law enforcement.

"I understand his desire to make sure that if someone is convicted of a violent felony offense that they wind up working with immigration to help the immigration law be enforced," Graziano said, "but when you put in a policy that also says that probation should work with ICE and they're working together before the defendant is even sentenced, that policy leads to victims and families being deprived of them getting justice."