(KRON) — A man who is charged with murdering six people in Napa County was previously deported to Mexico several times by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, according to ICE.
Norberto Celerino, 53, of Stockton, is now facing six counts of murder in connection to a horrific September 7 crash. Prosecutors said Celerino was drunk behind the wheel of a minivan when he crashed into a tree on Pope Valley Road in Napa County.
Six of his seven passengers died at the scene, California Highway Patrol officers said. All eight men in the van were farmworkers from Stockton who were on their way to work, family members said.
The Napa County Coroner’s Office worked with the Mexican Consulate in San Francisco to identify the six victims and notify their families.
Prosecutors said Celerino goes by several names, including Beto Celerino-Bialva, Roberto Salvaringo-Diabla, Grabien Martinez, and Norberto Celerino. The CHP said the driver also goes by the name Norberto Celerino-Novillava. He has a prior DUI conviction in San Joaquin County.
Federal authorities identified Celerino as Beto Cerillo-Bialva, and said he is 49 years old.
An ICE spokesperson told KRON4 on Tuesday, “Beto Cerillo-Bialva … is a criminal alien from Mexico who first entered the United States in 1995. Since his first illegal entry, he has been arrested several times for possession of cocaine, multiple DUIs, and removed multiple times from the United States.”
After each of his deportations, he unlawfully re-entered the United States and returned to California, federal authorities said.
A coroner identified the six victims killed in the Napa County crash as: Fernando Silverio, 34, Loreto Ricardo Hernandez, 42, Araon Ruiz, 39, Beymar Reynosa Rodriguez, 32, Demetrio Celerino Francisco, 39, and Pedro Lopez Gomez, 57.
The ICE spokesperson said the driver’s “continued disregard for the laws within the United States, and California’s sanctuary laws, has led to this tragic incident. Sanctuary laws continue to place the American public in danger and only protect the criminal aliens.”
The Department of Homeland Security published lists in May of sanctuary jurisdictions, including cities, counties, and states, that are “deliberately obstructing the enforcement of federal immigration laws and endangering American citizens,” according to DHS.
California was included on the list of sanctuary states. DHS said the lists helps to expose “lawless jurisdictions to the public.”
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