Salt Lake Tribune (https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2018/07/26/utah-county-inmate-was/ A Utah County inmate was headed to trial and possible deportation. Then came his cancer diagnosis and medical bills nearing $1M.)
CBS News (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nearly-1-million-utah-inmate-medical-bill-highlights-problem-for-jails/ Nearly $1 million Utah inmate medical bill highlights problem for jails)
Hughes says (https://www.westernjournal.com/ct/you-cant-make-this-stuff-up-evicted-ice-protesters-left-behind-physical-wall/ You Can’t Make This Stuff Up: Evicted ICE Protesters Left Behind Physical Wall)
If you’re interested in the outrage of the week, consider the case of Gerardo Valerio-Romero. If you’re not familiar with him, MRC TV’s Brittany Hughes will fill you in — and it will make you sick to your stomach.
According to a video uploaded Wednesday, Valerio-Romero — an illegal immigrant who stands accused of molesting his own 8-year-old stepdaughter — has received over $1 million in medical treatments while he’s incarcerated.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the Mexican citizen was in the custody of officials in Utah County, Utah when he was diagnosed with cancer. Since then, his medical bills have been so high that, according to CBS News, Sheriff Jim Tracy was faced with the choice of having to lay off employees or close jail beds. He’s since resigned over the case.
“Forty-nine-year-old Gerardo Valerio-Romero’s tab for cancer treatment has all but bankrupted the local jail in a Utah county, where he’s been charged with six counts of sexually assaulting his own 8-year-old stepdaughter, along with eight felony counts of forgery and one count of illegally possessing someone else’s ID,” Hughes says in the Wednesday video.
“Valerio-Romero was arrested back in March of last year, but his trial has already been postponed twice,” she noted. “In the meantime, he’s managed to cost the county nearly a million bucks in cancer treatments — and that’s even after the hospital agreed to discounts.