Salvadoran charged in priest deaths denies perjury

Salvadoran charged in priest deaths denies perjury

BOSTON (AP) — A former Salvadoran military officer accused of colluding in the 1989 slayings of six Jesuit priests has pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud and perjury for allegedly lying on U.S. immigration forms.

Inocente Orlando Montano was arraigned today in federal court in Boston on eight charges related to the alleged immigration fraud.

Montano said through an interpreter that he understood the charges, but said he did not agree with them.

Montano was arrested on the immigration charges last year. Court documents indicated Montano planned to plead guilty, but he backed out of a plea deal.

The 69-year-old Montano has lived near Boston for about a decade. He was among 20 Salvadorans separately indicted in Spain last year in connection with the killings during El Salvador’s 12-year civil war.