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ICE arrests paroled man who murdered pregnant girlfriend in Lawrence
Cesar Augusto Polanco was convicted of murder in March 2007 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
ICE agents arrested a man who was convicted of killing his pregnant girlfriend in Lawrence in 2007 while her five-year-old son was in the room.
Local News:
Cesar Augusto Polanco, 59, was born in the Dominican Republic and entered the U.S. lawfully at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City on March 18, 1990, but “later violated the terms of his lawful admission,” according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Monday.
“Polanco came to this country lawfully; however, his horrendous actions have deemed him a significant threat to the residents here,” said acting ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Boston Field Office Director Patricia Hyde in the statement.
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He was convicted of murder March 8, 2007 and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole. On June 20, 2013, ICE issued an immigration detainer against him with the Massachusetts Correctional Institution.
On October 26, 2006, Polanco, then 41, called Lawrence police and told them he killed his girlfriend Judith Guevara, who was 25 and one month pregnant. The murder took place in the apartment they shared with their 16-month-old daughter and Guevara’s 5-year-old son from a previous relationship, who was present.
“That evening, Mr. Polanco and Ms. Guevara argued about him going out to drink. The argument turned physical, and Mr. Polanco beat Ms. Guevara to death,” according to a statement from a December 2024 parole meeting.
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Pronounced dead at the hospital, Guevara sustained “massive facial injuries” and her death was determined to be homicide by blunt force trauma and aspiration of blood.
After appearing before a Department of Justice immigration judge on December 20, 2013, he was ordered removed from the U.S. to the Dominican Republic following his release from prison.
MCI informed ICE Boston of Polanco’s release. He remains in ICE custody ahead of removal proceedings.
“The Massachusetts Correctional Institution contacted ICE and allowed for a safe transfer of a violent criminal,” Hyde said. “In doing so, they enabled us to make the arrest in the safety of a jail cell rather than sending a team of officers into the community to make a potentially dangerous arrest.”
This move was possible because of the 287(g) Program, which allows ICE to “cooperate with its state and local law enforcement partners” for the “arrest and removal of noncitizens who undermine the safety of U.S. communities and the integrity of U.S. immigration laws.”
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