A 48-year-old small businessman may not fit the mold of a common criminal, but his actions ultimately facilitated the murder of a veteran Houston police officer.
Robert Lane Camp represents a dire problem in this country. Camp is a man who casually disregarded the law in order to turn a profit. He is a man who neglected the safety and well being of both his country and his fellow citizens.’
Luckily, Robert Lane Camp will soon be where he belongs – behind bars.
Juan Quintero, an illegal immigrant and employee of Camp’s, killed Houston Police Department officer Rodney Johnson, shooting him four times during a routine traffic stop.
Hiring illegal immigrants is a large problem in Houston and throughout Texas. Had Camp unknowingly hired an illegal immigrant, perhaps one could dismiss his employment as a simple mistake.’
It is clear, however, that Camp not only had prior knowledge of Quintero’s immigration status, but had also assisted Quintero in his illegal entry into the United States.
After Quintero had been jailed in 1998 on a charge of indecency with a child, Camp posted bail for his less-than-honorable employee.’
To exacerbate his misdeeds, Camp sent Quintero money when he was deported, and purchased for him a plane ticket to allow him to travel back to Houston from Phoenix after again illegally entering the country.’
Upon Quintero’s arrival, Camp greeted the future cold-blooded killer with a job, knowingly harboring a criminal who was in the country illegally.
Having pleaded guilty to employing and harboring an illegal immigrant, Camp may be sentenced to five years in federal prison and be forced to pay a $250,000 fine.’
However, the prosecutors in the case have asked for a plea bargain in which Camp would receive only three months of incarceration.’
HPD Sgt. Joslyn Johnson, Rodney Johnson’s widow, said, ‘He’s kind of getting off lightly considering the consequences of his actions.’
More accurate words couldn’t be spoken. Camp is only a symptom of a much larger problem.’
From depressed wages and overflowing emergency rooms and jails to a gaping hole in our national security strategy, illegal immigration poses a multi-faceted problem to this country.
We would be well served to seek maximum sentences for scofflaws like Camp.’
Throwing the book at Camp would send the message to shady business owners that both sides of the coin – the employer and the illegal immigrant – will be subject to harsh sentences.
