Feds mum on how Laken Riley's killer got one-way plane ticket from migrant shelter ground zero
Federal officials declined to provide more information to Fox News Digital about a "humanitarian flight" that Laken Riley's convicted killer, Jose Ibarra, was granted from New York City to Atlanta in September 2023.
In a Georgia courtroom on Monday, during Ibarra's trial, prosecutors displayed a photo of a Delta Air Lines ticket from New York to Atlanta, dated Sept. 28, 2023, for Ibarra, the Venezuelan illegal immigrant accused of attacking and killing Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, on the University of Georgia campus in Athens in February.
FBI Special Agent Jamie Hipkiss said a photo of the boarding pass was pulled from a WhatsApp account associated with Ibarra.
Ibarra's former roommate, Rosbeli Flores-Bello, testified on Monday that she and Ibarra — both Venezuelan nationals who connected in Queens, New York, in 2023 after meeting through a mother-in-law — went to the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan in September of that year to request a "humanitarian flight" to Atlanta. Ibarra's brother, Diego, promised they would find work in Athens, Georgia.
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The Roosevelt, which is located not far from New York's iconic Grand Central Station, was transformed into an immigration processing hub or "reticketing center" in May 2023. The New York City official government website defines "reticketing" as "a service provided to individuals who are new arrivals to the United States and are seeking asylum."
New York City Mayor Eric Adams' office told Fox News Digital that "[w]hat happened to Laken Riley is a gut-wrenching tragedy, and we are hopeful her suspected killer is held accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
"Mayor Adams has been abundantly clear that we need to fix our broken immigration system. Cities should never have had to carry the cost and burden of this national humanitarian crisis," press secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus said in a statement.
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"More than 223,000 migrants have come through New York City’s intake system since the spring of 2022, and our reticketing system is one tool in our very limited toolbox as a city that helps migrants take the next step out of our shelter system," Altus continued. "We continue to call on Democrats and Republicans to finally come together to pass meaningful immigration reform for the first time in four decades."
Reticketing centers, the New York City website says, help "arrange further travel outside of NYC from" the Roosevelt Hotel, among other locations.
"If you have just arrived in NYC and need reticketing services, you should first visit the Arrival Center at the Roosevelt Hotel, located at 45 East 45th Street in Manhattan," the website states. "At the Arrival Center, you will undergo an intake process in your preferred language, during which you can express your desire to be reticketed. Eligibility will be confirmed by staff."
The FBI told Fox News Digital that the agency "has nothing further to provide beyond the testimony given in court."
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said "the FBI is involved in this," referring to the plane ticket, and referred Fox News Digital to the Bureau. "We don’t have any information," the spokesperson said.
The White House did not respond to questions about Ibarra's conviction generally or his humanitarian flight. Delta Air Lines did not provide any further information about the flight.
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Jose Ibarra is charged with 10 counts in connection with Riley's February murder.
The murder suspect entered the United States through El Paso, Texas, in 2022 and was freed on border parole. He initially lived in New York City, where he was arrested for endangering a child prior to his move to Athens.
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Ibarra, 26; and his brothers, Diego Ibarra, 29; and Argenis Ibarra, 24, lived together in an apartment complex in Athens, Georgia, less than half a mile from the scene where Riley was found dead. All three men were questioned and taken into custody after Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student, was murdered while she was jogging around the University of Georgia campus on Feb. 22.
Diego Ibarra — who briefly worked on UGA's campus in a dining hall — is charged with green card fraud after displaying a fake ID with two different birth dates to police, and Argenis is being held on an immigration detainer.
Court documents released Wednesday revealed that Diego Ibarra has ties to the violent Venezuela-based organized crime gang Tren de Aragua.
Federal authorities say that the gang, also known as TdA, has become known for its violent turf wars as it has expanded into other countries in South and Central America. The gang has established itself in multiple states, according to the Justice Department.