Biography
Stacey Lynn Merkt was a Methodist lay worker at Casa Óscar Romero, a refugee shelter in San Benito, Texas. She was arrested on February 17, 1984 while helping two Salvadoran adults and a child travel around a Border Patrol checkpoint. A jury convicted her on May 14, and on June 27 the court imposed a 90-day custodial sentence but suspended it in favor of two years’ probation. A second prosecution ended in a February 21, 1985 conspiracy conviction and a 179-day prison sentence. Merkt entered the Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Worth on January 29, 1987. Pregnancy complications led the court to release her on April 17 and convert the remaining 83 days to house arrest.
Formal sentence, appeal and later prison service distinguished
The firsthand Sojourners interview, lawyers' docket chronology, and primary appellate opinion distinguish these proceedings. The chronology was available as indexed text only; its download returned an empty file, not a readable original. The conflicting March days prevent a day-specific sentence date. House arrest is not unrestricted freedom; no forecast is entered as actual release.
The April 27, 1984 AP report identifies Filemon Vela as the judge at Merkt’s April 26 pretrial hearing. He ordered disclosure of federal statistical information and internal policies concerning Salvadoran immigrants.
The February 1984 AP account recalls four days in El Paso County Jail after an April 1981 Air Force Academy chapel protest, followed by dismissal.
