An illegal alien who was convicted of killing a man while driving drunk earlier this year escaped jail time and was instead freed into the United States.

In January, illegal alien Jose Barajas-Diaz was driving drunk when he hit and killed Miguel Angel Linarte Jacome, an immigrant from Mexico. Immediately after Barajas-Diaz’s arrest, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency requested that, should he be released at any time, he be turned over to them for detainment.

In October, Barajas-Diaz was convicted for Jacome’s killing and given a five-year prison sentence, but all of it was suspended and he was given credit for time served, allowing him to be immediately released.

Rather than turning Barajas-Diaz over to ICE agents for deportation, the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office released the illegal alien into the general public and forced ICE agents to go and arrest him days later.

Acting ICE Director Matt Albence said in a statement:

This is yet another example of a clear public safety threat being released into North Carolina communities rather than into ICE custody due to local sheriff policies on ICE non-cooperation. Continued decisions to refuse cooperation with ICE serve as an open invitation to aliens who commit criminal offenses that these counties are a safe haven for persons seeking to evade federal authorities, and residents of Mecklenburg County are less safe due to these misguided sanctuary policies.

As Breitbart News reported, North Carolina sanctuary jurisdictions freed more than 500 criminal illegal aliens back into the general public in Fiscal Year 2019. Up to 80 percent of criminal illegal aliens freed back into American communities by sanctuary jurisdictions go on to commit more crimes.

John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.