GALVESTON, Texas — A homeless man who told a judge she was in grave danger was convicted in 2004 of attempting to smuggle two illegal aliens from Mexico into California, court documents reveal.
Clayton Eric Claflin, 37, sent letters to Galveston County Court-at-law Judge Mary Nell Crapitto and to Charina Allen-Beasley, director of housing operations at the Galveston Housing Authority. The letters told the women they were in "grave danger."
After five charges of trespassing, harassment and terroristic threats were dropped, Claflin was convicted of criminal trespass July 16 stemming from an incident at Workforce Solutions at the Island Community Center. A visiting judge in Crapitto’s court sentenced Claflin to 120 days in jail and a $500 fine.
At least one FBI agent from the San Diego office was present at the trial in Galveston, and Claflin went willingly with the FBI to San Diego, a court official said.
Claflin’s history in California is detailed in court documents.
Claflin, who claimed to be a Muslim in a letter to Crapitto, arrived at the San Ysidro, Calif., port of entry April 28, 2003. He drove a 1980 Jeep Wagoneer, which he claimed to have owned for nine months. The Jeep, which was in his name, was registered April 3, 2003, court documents revealed.
When asked why he was coming to San Diego, Claflin answered, "law school" but said he was on academic probation. Claflin graduated from the University of Texas, but a prosecutor was unsure which law school he attended.
The inspector smelled a strong odor of gasoline coming from the Jeep, saw a rag covering the fuel tank inlet and ordered the Jeep inspected.
Two Mexican nationals, their pants drenched in gasoline, were found alive, inside a metal box underneath the back seat, according to court documents.
The box, which was welded to the Jeep’s undercarriage, measured 74 inches long, 34 inches wide and 12 inches deep.
Rafael Hernandez-Mojica and a juvenile were treated for gasoline contact with their skin, court documents reveal.
The Mexicans paid to be smuggled into the country; however, it wasn’t Claflin who put them in the Jeep, according to court documents.
Claflin was convicted on a charge of bringing in illegal aliens without presentation and sentenced to one year and one day in jail, which began Dec. 30, 2003, with his arrival at Taft Correctional Institution in California, Felicia Ponce, a Federal Bureau of Prisons spokeswoman, said.
The FBI declined to comment on any investigation involving Claflin or on his whereabouts.
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.
