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Monday, August 29, 2011

Hell is a Place Called Mexico

Mexico continues to descend into hell. Last week the Zetas doused a casino in Monterrey with gasoline, burning over 60 people to death. In Acapulco, officials are closing schools because of extortion threats from criminals demanding protection payment from teachers. Borderlandbeat.com and Blogdelnarco.com both have excellent coverage. Acapulco used to be a playground for the rich and famous. Now the narco's hang butcher corpses from bridges on the main roads and dump bodies on the beaches.

The Sinaloa cartel is moving into meth production on an industrial scale. A security expert says the cartels control half of Mexico's territory. Carlos Fuentes says "They should decriminalize drugs and get help from the Israeli, French or German police forces who have proven effective in combating crime," he said.

Tom Clancy wrote a novel a few years back about the U.S. fighting a secret war in Columbia against the cartels. Harrison Ford starred in the movie. The venture ended in disaster with the troops abandoned by the politicians (sound familiar?).

General Sherman advised Lincoln that the only way to end the Civil War was to kill an entire generation of Southern males. As a Southerner, I hate Sherman almost as my grandmother did, and her father was shot by a Yankee musket (he survived). But the old psycho (Sherman that is) was right about one thing: when you go to war it has to be total war. Otherwise we get into disasters like the Black Hawk Down tragedy. It may take some power with the ruthlessness to go into Mexico and do what the Chinese would do - round up the criminals, try them and shoot them the same day.

It will never happen. The truth is that the drug trade provides the cash that keeps the world economy limping along. If the flow of money into Mexico was shut off, Mexico would collapse, dragging down the U.S. banks with it. Mexico gets more money from illegal drugs than it does oil and tourism combined.

Frisco drug dealer sentenced to 10 years in teen’s fatal cheese heroin overdose
From Dallas Morning News -
A 21-year-old Frisco man was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for supplying drugs to a 16-year-old who died from an overdose of cheese heroin in October 2009.
Jaime Cesar Navarro Jr. appeared in federal court Wednesday for sentencing after pleading guilty last year to selling drugs to Andrew Dillon Young.
According to a Frisco police affidavit, Dillon went with a friend to Navarro’s house to buy Xanax but instead paid $20 for cheese heroin. He went home and returned later with two friends to trade an Xbox 360 and a digital camera for more drugs, according to the affidavit. The affidavit stated that Dillon bought heroin mixed with Tylenol and Xanax.
Dillon’s mother found him unresponsive the next morning at the family’s home in Frisco.
Navarro pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, resulting in death. His sentence includes enrolling in a residential drug abuse treatment program and obtaining his GED while in prison. Once out of prison, he will have five years of supervised release.
Defense attorney Robert Arrambide told the judge that Navarro was not a drug kingpin but an addict who sold drugs to others to maintain his own habit.
“I was very lost in drugs,” Navarro told the court, adding that he was remorseful about what happened.

The teen's father, Fernando Cortez Sr., says: "All I can do is try to help people now."
A cheap, highly addictive drug known as "cheese heroin" has killed 21 teenagers in the Dallas area over the past two years, and authorities say they are hoping they can stop the fad before it spreads across the nation.

"Cheese heroin" is a blend of so-called black tar Mexican heroin and crushed over-the-counter medications that contain the antihistamine diphenhydramine, found in products such as Tylenol PM, police say. The sedative effects of the heroin and the nighttime sleep aids make for a deadly brew.

Ex-Chief Pleads Guilty
Sunday, August 28, 2011 | Borderland Beat Reporter Chamuko213
By Rene Romo / Journal South Reporter
LAS CRUCES — Former Columbus Police Chief Angelo Vega, handcuffed and dressed in a red prisoner jumpsuit, pleaded guilty Thursday to conspiracy, smuggling and public corruption charges.

The charges are in connection with a federal gun-smuggling case that also snared the border town’s mayor and a trustee.

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Roundup of Texas Crooked Lawyers, Judges and Bail Bondsmen

Former prosecutor pleads to crack cocaine charge
Former judicial candidate receives deferred adjudication probation.
By Craig Kapitan
ckapitan@express-news.net
Former Bexar County prosecutor and two-time judicial candidate Gammon Guinn, 56 who was arrested five years ago for purchasing crack cocaine with the help of a client pleaded no contest Monday to the felony drug charge.... On two occasions, Guinn drove the client to the East Side and gave him $900 to make crack purchases, police reports state. While using the drugs together in Guinn's Ford Mustang, they also picked up two women the client knew and shared the drugs in exchange for sexual favors, the client alleged.

Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Former-prosecutor-pleads-to-crack-cocaine-charge-1778899.php#ixzz1UX0xKO6f

By Lynn Brezosky
lbrezosky@express-news.net
BROWNSVILLE — A Brownsville bail bondsman admitted Monday to paying a middleman to bribe a state district judge to loosen bond terms for a drug defendant.
Francisco “Pancho” Cisneros, 46, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting extortion by paying $2,000 to the middleman, who bribed then-state District Judge Abel Corral Limas $700 to change the terms of a $25,000 bond from cash or surety to personal recognizance.
Cisneros faces a maximum prison term of 20 years plus up to a $250,000 fine at his Nov. 14 sentencing.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Bondsman-admits-judge-bribery-role-1780113.php#ixzz1UUgZoU55

From Grits for Breakfast
Isolated incidents: Corruption snares cop, judge, ATF agent, bail bondsman, jail guard, etc.
Several notable criminal-justice related corruption cases in Texas grabbed Grits' attention recently. First, via the Drug War Chronicle:
In Houston, a Houston police sergeant was arrested July 27 on charges he took a bribe to provide protection for a vehicle carrying several kilograms of cocaine. Sgt. Leslie Atkins, 46, faces federal charges of aiding and abetting the possession with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and with accepting a $2,000 bribe to provide protection for a vehicle transporting seven kilograms of cocaine. He was arrested after a June 22 indictment was unsealed. The 19-year veteran has been suspended without pay. He faces a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence on the cocaine charge and could get life, and he faces up to 20 years for the bribery count. He is out on $50,000 bail.
and -
A former Lubbock-based federal ATF agent, Brandon McFadden spent most of Thursday testifying in a federal corruption trial that he stole drugs and money from crime scenes with several Tulsa (OK) police officers."

This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories


Bondsman admits judge bribery role
By Lynn Brezosky
lbrezosky@express-news.net
BROWNSVILLE — A Brownsville bail bondsman admitted Monday to paying a middleman to bribe a state district judge to loosen bond terms for a drug defendant.
Francisco “Pancho” Cisneros, 46, pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting extortion by paying $2,000 to the middleman, who bribed then-state District Judge Abel Corral Limas $700 to change the terms of a $25,000 bond from cash or surety to personal recognizance.
Cisneros faces a maximum prison term of 20 years plus up to a $250,000 fine at his Nov. 14 sentencing.
Read more: http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Bondsman-admits-judge-bribery-role-1780113.php#ixzz1UUgZoU55

From Grits for Breakfast
Isolated incidents: Corruption snares cop, judge, ATF agent, bail bondsman, jail guard, etc.
Several notable criminal-justice related corruption cases in Texas grabbed Grits' attention recently. First, via the Drug War Chronicle:
In Houston, a Houston police sergeant was arrested July 27 on charges he took a bribe to provide protection for a vehicle carrying several kilograms of cocaine. Sgt. Leslie Atkins, 46, faces federal charges of aiding and abetting the possession with the intent to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine and with accepting a $2,000 bribe to provide protection for a vehicle transporting seven kilograms of cocaine. He was arrested after a June 22 indictment was unsealed. The 19-year veteran has been suspended without pay. He faces a mandatory minimum 10-year sentence on the cocaine charge and could get life, and he faces up to 20 years for the bribery count. He is out on $50,000 bail.
and -
A former Lubbock-based federal ATF agent, Brandon McFadden spent most of Thursday testifying in a federal corruption trial that he stole drugs and money from crime scenes with several Tulsa (OK) police officers."

This Week's Corrupt Cops Stories

Thursday, August 4, 2011

How Close Should Law Enforcement be to Criminal Informants?

It should not surprise anyone that law enforcement agencies have to deal with some pretty unsavory criminals to get information on the drug cartels. But it is surprising that they would allow serious criminals to continue committing new crimes while acting as informants. From the Houston Chronicle:

Trafficking defendant: I was a DEA informer
Defense wants charges dropped, claims immunity
By DANE SCHILLER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 3, 2011, 11:14PM


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/7682687.html#ixzz1U40eu2Fr

"Lawyers for the drug- trafficking son of one of Mexico's most powerful kingpins contend he helped run the Sinaloa Cartel — and was a fugitive from charges in the United States — while at the same time acting as an informant for U.S. agents.
Jesus Vicente Zambada Niebla's legal team is launching the bombshell contention as part of an effort to convince a U.S. judge that charges should be dropped. They claim agents allegedly told Zambada he could keep breaking the law, and be immune from prosecution, in return for tips on rival cartels....
A motion by Zambada's lawyers states that as recently as 2008, he and a top cartel lawyer met at a Mexico City hotel with two DEA agents, and were again assured they were immune from charges.
His allegations are being raised as U.S. agents are taking a beating for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives' bungled sting to catch weapons traffickers by letting a load of illegally purchased guns slip into Mexico. The load was lost. Dozens of guns reportedly turned up at crime scenes, including two where a Border Patrol agent was murdered.
Congressional investigators are looking into whether weapons smugglers were FBI informants.
Perhaps the most infamous dealing with a trafficker turned government informant came to light in 2004, when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement snitch known as "Lalo" provided U.S. authorities with information on the Juarez Cartel, while at the same time overseeing the murders of cartel enemies."
That was the infamous "House of Death" case, which the mainstream media ignored.

......

District clerk bailing on court fees, critics say
Bondsmen should be paying $230, but are billed only $8, judge asserts
By BRIAN ROGERS

HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Aug. 4, 2011, 7:09AM

Harris County District Clerk Chris Daniel has not collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in court costs since taking office in January because, critics say, it would hurt business for bail bondsmen who contributed to his campaign.
"He's nervous about doing it because bondsmen supported him a great deal during his election so he wants cover," said Judge Mike Fields, chairman of the county board that licenses bail bondsmen. "No individual or group of individuals should come before your obligation to the citizens of this county when you're an elected official — no matter how tough it is."
The court costs are generated by lawsuits filed against bail jumpers and bondsmen to have bail money forfeited after a defendant fails to appear for court.
Fields said not collecting the money during tight economic times was "baffling." He said the court costs, now set at $8, are supposed to be about $230, a move that would raise more than $1.5 million a year for Harris County.


Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7682683.html#ixzz1U42XT7pp

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Meth Dealing Sheriff

Winn Parish sheriff indicted on federal methamphetamine charges
Published: Tuesday, August 02, 2011, 6:05 PM
By The Associated Press
The top law officer in Winn Parish faces a possible life prison sentence following his indictment on federal charges tied to the distribution of methamphetamine in northwestern Louisiana.
Sheriff Albert Little and four other people were arrested Tuesday and taken to Shreveport for initial court appearances after an indictment was unsealed, U.S. Attorney Stephanie Finley said.
Finley said three other people were arrested in late June, one person is in custody on unrelated state charges and two defendants are being sought by authorities.
The charges stem from the organized distribution of methamphetamine in Winn Parish and the Shreveport area, Finley said.
In the most serious charge, Little is accused of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine. That charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, a maximum sentence of life, plus as much as a $10 million fine.
.....
I've been watching the old t.v. series The Shieldabout a special unit of Los Angeles police called The Strike Force. The show is so well written and produced and the actors are so good you root for cops who do whatever it takes to get criminals off the street, and as a sideline take bribes from drug dealers and even do a little dealing themselves. The show is based on a real life unit that operated in the Ramparts section of L.A. Denzel Washington got an Oscar for his role in Training Day, which was based on the same gang unit.

I firmly believe that 95% of law enforcement officers are honest. Some cities and precincts and counties have disproportionate number of the bad element. Texas is so big, with so many counties, and there is no central state authority to police them, that there is a lot of opportunity for corruption. Having Mexico, which has turned into a hell on earth because of the drug gangs, on our border, makes it that much worse.