Federal agents seeking to arrest a man in the country illegally brought his sister to a northern Arizona home where he was staying and told her she would be released from immigration custody and instead be given a court date if she persuaded the property owner to agree to a search, according an attorney who claims the promise amounted to extortion.  The tactic was used by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in the April 19 arrest of Jose Guadalupe Montelongo-Morales outside a trailer in Sedona, said his attorney, Lee Phillips.

Professor Chin commented that courts have allowed prosecutors to use relatives of accused criminals for leverage.

Read the full feature here