The Bermudez Triangle

After that, the evidence against Bermudez stacked up quickly.

He'd been given money by Rene Wong to purchase property under an alias, Jesse Bermudez, and Rene Wong was listed as an officer of Centro de Progresso. According to the Yuma County recorder, "Jesse" owned seven properties, four of which had transferred ownership to Nuestro Progresso Inc. Nuestro Progresso had the same address as Centro de Progresso, and listed Elias Bermudez as the president, Rene Wong as the vice president and "Jesse" as the secretary.

When questioned by New Times about Nuestro Progresso, Bermudez simply said it was supposed to be a nonprofit arm of Centro de Progresso; much like Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras is to Centro de Ayuda today. In reality, it was little more than a front for Wong.

Bermudez accepted $100,000 from his brother-in-law, opened a checking account, put him on Centro de Progresso's payroll and paid him for work that was never done.

In other words, he laundered drug money.

Bermudez says he did it to help his family and says he had good intentions.

"I was just trying to get him out of whatever he was doing," he says of his brother-in-law. "It was a family matter. It was such a shame on the family. It was a small town. Everyone knew."

Still, court documents, filed by his own lawyer, show Bermudez knew what he was doing. "He knew Rene Wong and Matilde Wong were involved in drug dealing, and . . . his involvement was with open eyes," one pleading reads.

Bermudez looks angry when asked if he's still in contact with Rene Wong. The answer is a vehement no. Then he appears to remember the softer light he's cast himself in for the past few years, and he adds that he does forgive his former brother-in-law. (He and Matilde have since divorced.)

"I offer him thanks. I would forgive the assassin of my own child," he says. "That is just the way I am. I am a follower of Gandhi. I grew up in a Christian environment. I don't profess to be a Christian because I have moved out of religion to a higher call."

Though initially indicted on nine counts that included drug trafficking, Bermudez pleaded guilty in 1996 to one count of money laundering and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. Bermudez spent 10 months in prison and the last eight months of his sentence at a halfway house in Phoenix.

He calls it the best thing that ever happened to him.

"It was a great experience for me," he says. "I didn't feel guilty about going to jail because I didn't do anything to feel guilty about, but it was something I needed to experience to change my way of doing things. I ended up in better situations. If I had not gone to prison, I never would have moved to Phoenix."

When he was paroled, Bermudez decided to stay in the Valley to rebuild his life. His wife stayed married to him while he was in prison, though he does lament his relationship with his kids. He has two children: Elias Jr., who attends film school in New York City, and Vanessa, who lives in Phoenix.

"My kids grew up from under me," he says. "My oldest is a lady and my youngest is a man. My son has always resented I never took him to a baseball game. Now when my son says something, I jump."

His wife, Dora, who works with him at Centro de Ayuda, echoes this sentiment.

"He really likes to help people. Matter of fact, he doesn't do a lot of things with the family because he's always busy helping people," she says. "For a long time, I had a sadness that he never spend time with the children but at this time, I understand he wants to be a leader and I'm happy for him and me and my family because I'm very proud to be his wife."

Dora says people have the wrong idea about her husband.

"I know he have errors because he's a human being," she says in broken English. her second language. "But I live with him every day. I know how he is and he do the things he do because he feels it. I know that he do it for love. To help people."

He returned to the document preparation business and opened Centro de Ayuda, which today has four locations, three in the Valley and one in Casa Grande. He insists that he didn't set out to become a leader or an organizer of the undocumented.

"I did not want to take a leadership role," he says. "It's difficult to take a leadership role when you have baggage."

But the attitude toward immigrants was changing nationwide, especially in Arizona.

Bermudez says that by the early 2000s, he was hearing more and more cases of abuse. He decided to organize a nonprofit arm of his business to help the undocumented fight for legal rights.

"Inmigrantes Sin Fronteras was born out of the need to organize the undocumented, he says. "I began my recruitment by saying you are the problem, you need to be part of the solution."