ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) - A Maryland defense attorney and his interpreter are charged with trying to intimidate a rape victim by raising the possibility of deportation if she testified against their client.
A Baltimore grand jury indicted attorney Christos Vasiliades and interpreter Edgar Rodriguez on charges of conspiracy to obstruct justice and intimidate a victim and a witness.
The woman and her husband sought help from law enforcement and then met again with the men, this time recording what they said. The indictment says Rodriguez told them that under President Donald Trump, "someone goes to court, and boom, they get taken away."
Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh said Wednesday he believes this "sadly new" method of intimidation arose from a "climate of fear in the immigrant community."