August 19, 2008 - 7:32PM
Jeremy Roebuck
McALLEN - An alleged gang member who pleaded guilty to shooting a federal agent in 2005 is too mentally disturbed to serve time in a regular prison, his attorney said Tuesday.
Leobardo Villarreal, 25, had already been diagnosed as moderately retarded before he shot U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Maria Olga Ochoa during a carjacking attempt March 5, 2005.
But his condition has severely deteriorated since his arrest, attorney Mauro Barreiro said.
"If he's not legally competent to serve his sentence, they have to place him in a facility that can treat him," he said.
Prosecutors allege Villarreal, a purported member of the Hermanos Pistoleros gang, attacked Ochoa while he was working as a lookout for drug smugglers trying to hustle 700 pounds of marijuana through Bentsen State Park.
On orders from another man, Villarreal approached Ochoa's unmarked vehicle near the intersection of Breyfogle Road and Business 83 in Peñitas, tapped his gun against the window and then shot through the door hitting her in the foot, according to a criminal complaint filed in his case.
Upon his arrest, Villarreal was placed in an isolated unit and the stress of confinement quickly began to take its toll on him, Barreiro said.
About six months later, in September 2005, Villarreal cut open his arm in what his attorney describes as a suicide attempt. But while being transported to McAllen Medical Center to treat the wound, the gang member struck U.S. Marshals and managed to escape from his ambulance.
He fled across Expressway 83, carjacked a vehicle and managed to elude recapture for more than six months. He was eventually arrested in Lopezville in March 2006, after his case was featured on the television show "America's Most Wanted."
While investigators maintain the suicide attempt was a calculated move to break out of custody, Barreiro believes his client was so emotionally disturbed by the conditions of his confinement that he was willing to do anything to get out.
"They put him in isolation...," he said. "I suspect that's causing a lot of his problems."
During a competency hearing Tuesday, Barreiro asked U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa to consider placing Villarreal in a facility equipped to handle psychiatric care.
In the past several months, the gang member reported that he has begun talking to himself and seeing gargoyles in his cell, according to court documents.
Barreiro also maintains that his client's troubled family life and history of mental problems should play a factor in the sentencing decision. A second-generation gang member, Villarreal grew up without a father and has been previously diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
"His whole family is dysfunctional," he said. "They suffer from every setback possible."
On Tuesday, Hinojosa said he would decide which role Villarreal's mental condition should play in his sentencing during a hearing scheduled for Aug. 27.
____
Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.
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Showing posts with label Gangs. Show all posts
August 8, 2008
Mexican president proposes life sentence for police involved in kidnappings
Friday, August 8, 2008
By LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News
liliff@dallasnews.com
MEXICO CITY – It was a normal school day for 14-year-old Fernando Martí, son of a sporting goods mogul, but it was not the normal route taken by his driver and his bodyguard to the British American School. Then, a makeshift roadblock on a busy thoroughfare, men dressed in black with guns. It was a setup, and Fernando was the target.
Wearing vests with the initials of Mexico's Federal Bureau of Investigation, the abductors took the two men and the boy to a house, tortured and killed the driver, pulling out all his teeth, and left the strangled bodyguard for dead.
Only this week did prosecutors reveal that the bodyguard survived the early June attack and provided details that pointed to high-level police involvement.
On Thursday, President Felipe Calderón sent a proposal to Congress that would for the first time impose a life sentence on those convicted of kidnapping when the perpetrators are police or the victim is a minor. He invoked the name of Fernando Martí, whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of a car last week.
An opinion poll published Thursday in the Mexico City newspaper Reforma shows that a majority of people in Mexico's biggest cities favor the death penalty for kidnappers – a surprising turnaround in a nation that has used every legal and diplomatic tool possible to keep states like Texas from executing Mexican citizens on death row.
Mr. Calderón called the crime against young Fernando "a cowardly act" and promised a crackdown against kidnappers.
But government critics are calling it a crime of the state – allegedly planned and executed by city and federal police, including those assigned to the international airport, where thousands of Americans arrive every day.
"The reason business people are so mad is because they have armored cars, bodyguards trained to resist a commando attack from five, six, seven people," said Samuel González, a security consultant and former federal prosecutor. "But when it's the government, using weapons paid for by the national security system, government vehicles, when it's Mexico City police putting up roadblocks ... how do they protect themselves against that?"
Mexican authorities, including local police and federal agents, have been implicated along with organized crime groups in the record number of drug cartel deaths, in a resurgence of sophisticated kidnapping gangs, and in human smuggling rings and protection rackets.
Those criminal groups include the Zetas, based along the Texas-Mexico border.
"If the Zetas cannot be stopped from drug trafficking, they are not going to be stopped from kidnapping," said Mr. González, who ran the federal organized-crime bureau and dismantled top kidnapping rings a decade ago.
"You have business people who are willing to abandon entire regions of the country because of crime – Juárez, Sinaloa, the northern part of the country," he said.
Mr. González said he personally knows of seven high-level kidnappings in the last 45 days.
The abduction of Fernando Martí harked back to the rash of kidnappings of the ultrarich in the mid-1990s. His father, Alejandro Martí, owns a chain of sporting goods stores and expensive gyms.
After the abduction, the Martí family went to the police but also hired a private negotiator, according to media reports. The kidnappers, the "Flower Gang," are known for killing the drivers and bodyguards of the abducted and putting flowers in their mouths.
But Mr. González said the Flower Gang had returned past victims alive after negotiating a ransom.
Initially, the kidnappers asked for $3 million for the return of Fernando. According to a Mexico City police file leaked to the media, the Martí family negotiator made a counteroffer of 2 million pesos – about $200,000 – a number that angered the man speaking for the abductors. In mid-June, the Martís paid 5 million pesos and waited for Fernando to show up. He didn't.
The family then took out full-page newspaper ads, pleading with the kidnappers to return their boy.
When Fernando's body was found last Friday, he had probably been dead for a month, police said. He was identified using dental records.
In the ensuing days, dozens of police were arrested as suspects, including high-ranking commanders.
Meanwhile, hundreds turned out to say goodbye to the smiling youth whom most knew only in photos, where he is invariably wearing a baseball cap and sports gear.
Someone who knew him well, British American School director Patricia Brictson, said in a letter published in Reforma: "Fernando, your light will be with us today and forever. Your school, teachers and schoolmates will love you forever. Thank you for motivating us to be better."
News assistant Javier García contributed to this report.
Abductions close to home
Many kidnappings take place near the U.S.-Mexico border, including these recent cases:
•In July, gunmen abducted five South Koreans in the border city of Reynosa, near McAllen, Texas. The abductors falsely identified themselves as police, according to news reports. The five were held more than a week, then freed unharmed.
•Also in July, gunmen abducted Gerardo Valdes, chief of kidnapping and organized crime investigations for the state of Coahuila, which borders Texas. Police were told in a phone call that he had been kidnapped by the Juárez drug cartel. He remains missing.
•In June, a distant relative of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, was kidnapped in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso. She was released after her family in Mexico paid a ransom, according to news reports.
By LAURENCE ILIFF / The Dallas Morning News
liliff@dallasnews.com
MEXICO CITY – It was a normal school day for 14-year-old Fernando Martí, son of a sporting goods mogul, but it was not the normal route taken by his driver and his bodyguard to the British American School. Then, a makeshift roadblock on a busy thoroughfare, men dressed in black with guns. It was a setup, and Fernando was the target.
Wearing vests with the initials of Mexico's Federal Bureau of Investigation, the abductors took the two men and the boy to a house, tortured and killed the driver, pulling out all his teeth, and left the strangled bodyguard for dead.
Only this week did prosecutors reveal that the bodyguard survived the early June attack and provided details that pointed to high-level police involvement.
On Thursday, President Felipe Calderón sent a proposal to Congress that would for the first time impose a life sentence on those convicted of kidnapping when the perpetrators are police or the victim is a minor. He invoked the name of Fernando Martí, whose decomposed body was found in the trunk of a car last week.
An opinion poll published Thursday in the Mexico City newspaper Reforma shows that a majority of people in Mexico's biggest cities favor the death penalty for kidnappers – a surprising turnaround in a nation that has used every legal and diplomatic tool possible to keep states like Texas from executing Mexican citizens on death row.
Mr. Calderón called the crime against young Fernando "a cowardly act" and promised a crackdown against kidnappers.
But government critics are calling it a crime of the state – allegedly planned and executed by city and federal police, including those assigned to the international airport, where thousands of Americans arrive every day.
"The reason business people are so mad is because they have armored cars, bodyguards trained to resist a commando attack from five, six, seven people," said Samuel González, a security consultant and former federal prosecutor. "But when it's the government, using weapons paid for by the national security system, government vehicles, when it's Mexico City police putting up roadblocks ... how do they protect themselves against that?"
Mexican authorities, including local police and federal agents, have been implicated along with organized crime groups in the record number of drug cartel deaths, in a resurgence of sophisticated kidnapping gangs, and in human smuggling rings and protection rackets.
Those criminal groups include the Zetas, based along the Texas-Mexico border.
"If the Zetas cannot be stopped from drug trafficking, they are not going to be stopped from kidnapping," said Mr. González, who ran the federal organized-crime bureau and dismantled top kidnapping rings a decade ago.
"You have business people who are willing to abandon entire regions of the country because of crime – Juárez, Sinaloa, the northern part of the country," he said.
Mr. González said he personally knows of seven high-level kidnappings in the last 45 days.
The abduction of Fernando Martí harked back to the rash of kidnappings of the ultrarich in the mid-1990s. His father, Alejandro Martí, owns a chain of sporting goods stores and expensive gyms.
After the abduction, the Martí family went to the police but also hired a private negotiator, according to media reports. The kidnappers, the "Flower Gang," are known for killing the drivers and bodyguards of the abducted and putting flowers in their mouths.
But Mr. González said the Flower Gang had returned past victims alive after negotiating a ransom.
Initially, the kidnappers asked for $3 million for the return of Fernando. According to a Mexico City police file leaked to the media, the Martí family negotiator made a counteroffer of 2 million pesos – about $200,000 – a number that angered the man speaking for the abductors. In mid-June, the Martís paid 5 million pesos and waited for Fernando to show up. He didn't.
The family then took out full-page newspaper ads, pleading with the kidnappers to return their boy.
When Fernando's body was found last Friday, he had probably been dead for a month, police said. He was identified using dental records.
In the ensuing days, dozens of police were arrested as suspects, including high-ranking commanders.
Meanwhile, hundreds turned out to say goodbye to the smiling youth whom most knew only in photos, where he is invariably wearing a baseball cap and sports gear.
Someone who knew him well, British American School director Patricia Brictson, said in a letter published in Reforma: "Fernando, your light will be with us today and forever. Your school, teachers and schoolmates will love you forever. Thank you for motivating us to be better."
News assistant Javier García contributed to this report.
Abductions close to home
Many kidnappings take place near the U.S.-Mexico border, including these recent cases:
•In July, gunmen abducted five South Koreans in the border city of Reynosa, near McAllen, Texas. The abductors falsely identified themselves as police, according to news reports. The five were held more than a week, then freed unharmed.
•Also in July, gunmen abducted Gerardo Valdes, chief of kidnapping and organized crime investigations for the state of Coahuila, which borders Texas. Police were told in a phone call that he had been kidnapped by the Juárez drug cartel. He remains missing.
•In June, a distant relative of U.S. Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-El Paso, was kidnapped in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso. She was released after her family in Mexico paid a ransom, according to news reports.
August 5, 2008
Gang member arraigned on murder charges
August 5, 2008 - 5:42PM
Jeremy Roebuck
DONNA - A Mexican national on the lam for six years in connection with the shooting death of rival gang member was formally charged with murder Tuesday.
Manuel Garcia Martinez Cabello, 27, remained in the Hidalgo County Jail on a $1 million bond, one day after Mexican federal authorities extradited him to the United States.
Investigators believe Martinez, a suspected member of the Tri-City Bombers, fatally shot Roberto Torres on Aug. 30, 2002, outside a home on the 600 block of South 18th Street.
The two got into an argument after Torres, a member of the South Alamo-based Poboys gang, started insulting Martinez's group, authorities said.
Martinez is believed to have fled to Mexico shortly after the crime and was released to FBI agents Monday after serving a four-year prison sentence south of the border on unrelated robbery charges.
If convicted, he could face up to life in prison and $10,000 in fines.
____
Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.
Jeremy Roebuck
DONNA - A Mexican national on the lam for six years in connection with the shooting death of rival gang member was formally charged with murder Tuesday.
Manuel Garcia Martinez Cabello, 27, remained in the Hidalgo County Jail on a $1 million bond, one day after Mexican federal authorities extradited him to the United States.
Investigators believe Martinez, a suspected member of the Tri-City Bombers, fatally shot Roberto Torres on Aug. 30, 2002, outside a home on the 600 block of South 18th Street.
The two got into an argument after Torres, a member of the South Alamo-based Poboys gang, started insulting Martinez's group, authorities said.
Martinez is believed to have fled to Mexico shortly after the crime and was released to FBI agents Monday after serving a four-year prison sentence south of the border on unrelated robbery charges.
If convicted, he could face up to life in prison and $10,000 in fines.
____
Jeremy Roebuck covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at (956) 683-4437.
June 30, 2008
223 arrested in sweep
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/30/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
A U.S. Marshals deputy and another law enforcement officer take positions to secure an El Paso home during a warrant roundup last week named Operation Falcon 08. (Courtesy of U.S. Marshals Service )More than 200 fugitives, including a reputed member of a street gang linked to soldiers at Fort Bliss, were arrested last week in El Paso by a small army of law enforcement officers as part of one of the largest warrant sweeps in the city in years.
The massive number of arrests were part of Operation Falcon 08, a multi-agency effort lead by the U.S. Marshals Service intended to catch people wanted on warrants for violent crimes, sex offenses and other crimes.
"We measure success one fugitive at a time," LaFayette Collins, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas, said in a statement. "Any time we remove a sexual predator, gang member, or other violent felon, that street, a neighborhood and a community became a little safer."
Operation Falcon, which stands for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally, is an effort that has taken place in different cities throughout the United States in recent years but had not in El Paso since 2006. The effort included the work of El Paso police, sheriff's deputies and several state and federal agencies.
The operation netted 223 arrests with 321 warrants cleared, including 69 people wanted for violent crimes, 14 for sex offenses and 70 in drug cases, officials said.
U.S. Marshals Service officials said arrests began throughout El Paso in the pre-dawn hours a week ago today and continued daily through Saturday. The arrests were conducted by 80 officers from various federal, state and local agencies organized into 10 teams.
"We participate in many initiatives and this is one of them," El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca said. "We do this to make sure El Paso is a better and safer place to live by going after people wanted on warrants."
Among those arrested was Elbert Mullin, an alleged member of the Georgia Boys, connected to the Gangster Disciples, U.S. Marshals Service supervisory deputy Gerry Payan said.
The Gangster Disciples, which was created in south Chicago in the 1960s, is one of the largest street gangs in the nation.
The Georgia Boys have been linked to soldiers at Fort Bliss, according to a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command report in 2006 about gang activity in the military.
In 2006, four soldiers believed to be associated with the Georgia Boys assaulted and robbed two soldiers in a parking lot on post, stated the report labeled as law enforcement sensitive. Two of the soldiers in the robbery were court-martialed and found guilty. The other two were found guilty of violating Army regulations.
The report assessed the gang threat at Fort Bliss as "low."
Mullin, 28, was allegedly in possession of a handgun when he was captured Friday on two prior counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and other charges, Payan said. It was unknown if Mullin has ties to the military.
The round up included a total of 12 suspected members of various gangs.
Assistant Chief Deputy Michael Troyanski of the Marshals Service in El Paso said such warrant operations are vital since fugitives pose one of the greatest risks to the law enforcement because they are more likely to assault an officer in an attempt to evade capture.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com;546-6102.
Operation Falcon
Operation Falcon 08 in El Paso consisted of officers from:
U.S. Marshals Service, Border Patrol, Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Probation, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Texas Office of the Inspector General, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, El Paso Police Department and El Paso County Constable Precinct 5.
Article Launched: 06/30/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
A U.S. Marshals deputy and another law enforcement officer take positions to secure an El Paso home during a warrant roundup last week named Operation Falcon 08. (Courtesy of U.S. Marshals Service )More than 200 fugitives, including a reputed member of a street gang linked to soldiers at Fort Bliss, were arrested last week in El Paso by a small army of law enforcement officers as part of one of the largest warrant sweeps in the city in years.
The massive number of arrests were part of Operation Falcon 08, a multi-agency effort lead by the U.S. Marshals Service intended to catch people wanted on warrants for violent crimes, sex offenses and other crimes.
"We measure success one fugitive at a time," LaFayette Collins, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Texas, said in a statement. "Any time we remove a sexual predator, gang member, or other violent felon, that street, a neighborhood and a community became a little safer."
Operation Falcon, which stands for Federal And Local Cops Organized Nationally, is an effort that has taken place in different cities throughout the United States in recent years but had not in El Paso since 2006. The effort included the work of El Paso police, sheriff's deputies and several state and federal agencies.
The operation netted 223 arrests with 321 warrants cleared, including 69 people wanted for violent crimes, 14 for sex offenses and 70 in drug cases, officials said.
U.S. Marshals Service officials said arrests began throughout El Paso in the pre-dawn hours a week ago today and continued daily through Saturday. The arrests were conducted by 80 officers from various federal, state and local agencies organized into 10 teams.
"We participate in many initiatives and this is one of them," El Paso County Sheriff Jimmy Apodaca said. "We do this to make sure El Paso is a better and safer place to live by going after people wanted on warrants."
Among those arrested was Elbert Mullin, an alleged member of the Georgia Boys, connected to the Gangster Disciples, U.S. Marshals Service supervisory deputy Gerry Payan said.
The Gangster Disciples, which was created in south Chicago in the 1960s, is one of the largest street gangs in the nation.
The Georgia Boys have been linked to soldiers at Fort Bliss, according to a U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command report in 2006 about gang activity in the military.
In 2006, four soldiers believed to be associated with the Georgia Boys assaulted and robbed two soldiers in a parking lot on post, stated the report labeled as law enforcement sensitive. Two of the soldiers in the robbery were court-martialed and found guilty. The other two were found guilty of violating Army regulations.
The report assessed the gang threat at Fort Bliss as "low."
Mullin, 28, was allegedly in possession of a handgun when he was captured Friday on two prior counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and other charges, Payan said. It was unknown if Mullin has ties to the military.
The round up included a total of 12 suspected members of various gangs.
Assistant Chief Deputy Michael Troyanski of the Marshals Service in El Paso said such warrant operations are vital since fugitives pose one of the greatest risks to the law enforcement because they are more likely to assault an officer in an attempt to evade capture.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com;546-6102.
Operation Falcon
Operation Falcon 08 in El Paso consisted of officers from:
U.S. Marshals Service, Border Patrol, Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General, the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Probation, Texas Department of Public Safety, Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, Texas Office of the Inspector General, El Paso County Sheriff's Office, El Paso Police Department and El Paso County Constable Precinct 5.
June 26, 2008
5 jailed in Mexico slayings
By Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 06/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
A reputed high-ranking Azteca gang member and four other suspected hit men have been arrested in connection with multiple homicides in the Juárez area, Mexican federal and Chihuahua state authorities said Wednesday.
The arrests, which were part of the Joint Operation Chihuahua, are believed to be among the first related to the mob-style violence behind the slayings of more than 500 people in Juárez this year.
The men are accused of belonging to different hit squads involved in homicides in Juárez, Palomas and villages in the Valley of Juárez.
Reputed Azteca gang member Jose Alfredo Palacios Rivera, 49, is accused of being involved in five homicides, including driving the vehicle used in the killing of Juárez police human resources director Silvia Molina Guzman on June 16.
Palacios is also suspected in the death of Laura Elena Ramirez Chavez, who was shot and killed in Molina's neighborhood two days before Molina's death.
The Aztecas, who are affiliated with but operate independently of the Barrio Azteca gang based in El Paso, are one of the largest gangs in Chihuahua state.
In an anonymous videotape, Palacios allegedly admits how he killed Victor Manuel Bolivar Villa at a ranch off the Juárez-Porvenir road, and a witness also claimed Palacios talked about how feathers flew out of a goose-down blanket wrapped around the victim's body as they fired into the body.
The Chihuahua state attorney general said Palacios has a long criminal history in El Paso, including prison time for cocaine and marijuana possession. He had crossed the border and been deported to Mexico several times since 1982.
State authorities also arrested Efren Escudero Hernandez, 34, who allegedly told investigators he belonged to a hit squad operating out of rented Juárez homes, nicknamed the "office."
On May 7, Escudero allegedly took part in the fatal shooting of Jose Epifianio "El Pifis" Carreon Renteria.
Carreon Renteria was slain because he wanted to control the drug trade in Palomas and had killed an associate of Escudero's boss, Humberto del Hierro, also known as "El Bote," officials said.
Several members of the Carreon family have been slain in Palomas in recent months.
Also arrested was Jesus Carrion Curiel, 22, who is accused in a death in Guadalupe Distrito Bravos and providing support to gunmen in shootings that claimed the lives of at least six people in May on Juárez streets.
Edgar Adrian Monreal Agui lera, 24, and Gilberto Chico Quezada, 22, are accused in the fatal shootings of two drug pushers and bar owner Jose Antonio Do minguez Lara, who was killed June 17 in front of La Academia bar, officials said. The pair claimed that if they killed the wrong person they would be killed themselves.
When investigators asked what his occupation was, Monreal allegedly responded "to kill people," Mexican police said.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
Article Launched: 06/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT
A reputed high-ranking Azteca gang member and four other suspected hit men have been arrested in connection with multiple homicides in the Juárez area, Mexican federal and Chihuahua state authorities said Wednesday.
The arrests, which were part of the Joint Operation Chihuahua, are believed to be among the first related to the mob-style violence behind the slayings of more than 500 people in Juárez this year.
The men are accused of belonging to different hit squads involved in homicides in Juárez, Palomas and villages in the Valley of Juárez.
Reputed Azteca gang member Jose Alfredo Palacios Rivera, 49, is accused of being involved in five homicides, including driving the vehicle used in the killing of Juárez police human resources director Silvia Molina Guzman on June 16.
Palacios is also suspected in the death of Laura Elena Ramirez Chavez, who was shot and killed in Molina's neighborhood two days before Molina's death.
The Aztecas, who are affiliated with but operate independently of the Barrio Azteca gang based in El Paso, are one of the largest gangs in Chihuahua state.
In an anonymous videotape, Palacios allegedly admits how he killed Victor Manuel Bolivar Villa at a ranch off the Juárez-Porvenir road, and a witness also claimed Palacios talked about how feathers flew out of a goose-down blanket wrapped around the victim's body as they fired into the body.
The Chihuahua state attorney general said Palacios has a long criminal history in El Paso, including prison time for cocaine and marijuana possession. He had crossed the border and been deported to Mexico several times since 1982.
State authorities also arrested Efren Escudero Hernandez, 34, who allegedly told investigators he belonged to a hit squad operating out of rented Juárez homes, nicknamed the "office."
On May 7, Escudero allegedly took part in the fatal shooting of Jose Epifianio "El Pifis" Carreon Renteria.
Carreon Renteria was slain because he wanted to control the drug trade in Palomas and had killed an associate of Escudero's boss, Humberto del Hierro, also known as "El Bote," officials said.
Several members of the Carreon family have been slain in Palomas in recent months.
Also arrested was Jesus Carrion Curiel, 22, who is accused in a death in Guadalupe Distrito Bravos and providing support to gunmen in shootings that claimed the lives of at least six people in May on Juárez streets.
Edgar Adrian Monreal Agui lera, 24, and Gilberto Chico Quezada, 22, are accused in the fatal shootings of two drug pushers and bar owner Jose Antonio Do minguez Lara, who was killed June 17 in front of La Academia bar, officials said. The pair claimed that if they killed the wrong person they would be killed themselves.
When investigators asked what his occupation was, Monreal allegedly responded "to kill people," Mexican police said.
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
January 15, 2008
Police accuse 5 of running underage prostitution ring
January 15, 2008
Original A liberal dose article: Police accuse 5 of running underage prostitution ring
FORT WORTH -- Police say they have broken up an underage prostitution ring in which Fort Worth gang members threatened and assaulted young girls until they agreed to have sex for money.
What makes the case even more disturbing, authorities say, is that some of the suspects are underage themselves.
Officers have arrested three juveniles -- including a 15-year-old girl Monday -- and a 17- and 19-year-old, who are legally adults, on suspicion of human trafficking and prostitution, police said.
Four victims ages 12 to 16 have been identified, they said.
'It's a unique situation; they are not your stereotypical pimps,' said Detective H. Murtaugh of the major case unit.
'This is human trafficking, and it's very sophisticated for such a young group.'
Four of the five suspects were arrested Jan. 3 after a tip led police to a southeast Fort Worth convenience store, where the suspects were found with a 14-year-old girl, police said. The suspects had brought the girl to the store to have sex with the owner, Chang Hyeong Lee, 56, who was a regular customer of the ring, investigators said.
Martin Reyes, 17, and Diego Armando Rodriguez, 19, and two boys ages 15 and 16 were arrested, police said. Lee was also arrested, according to a police report.
Most of the girls were runaways whom the suspects befriended by feigning affection for them, Murtaugh said. However, if the girls later refused to have sex for money, the relationship turned violent.
'They used various brutal tactics, including sexually assaulting the girls themselves,' major-case Sgt. J.D. Moore said. 'They also made threats against the girls and their families until they got what they wanted.'
The victims are now in 'safe places,' Murtaugh said. She declined to elaborate.
How the case unfolded
The investigation started in August in an east Fort Worth apartment complex, police said.
That's where police arrested Debra Flores Castillo, 32, after residents reported that she was going door to door offering sex with a 14-year-old runaway for $50.
Castillo was arrested and accused of compelling prostitution. A man [illegal alien Jorge Martinez, 32-40] who lived at the complex and took Castillo up on the offer was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of a child.
The case led police to a larger investigation involving members of a south Fort Worth gang, Murtaugh said. The department's major-case, vice and human-trafficking units, as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were involved.
The gang operated in south and southeast Fort Worth and generally took the girls to customers, Murtaugh said. Members often tried to find customers in apartment complexes with large numbers of undocumented immigrants.
In addition to the trafficking and prostitution charges, Rodriguez was in jail Monday on an immigration hold, said a jailer at the Mansfield Jail.
All of the young victims are from the Fort Worth area, Murtaugh said.
Gang members occasionally flashed a gun or knife in front of the girls but did not appear to have a store of weapons, Murtaugh said.
And although the management of the prostitution ring was sophisticated for such young suspects, they were not smart businessmen, she said.
'They didn't put the profit back into the business,' she said. 'They mostly bought drugs and beer.'
The investigation is ongoing, she said.
How it ended
On Jan. 3, police got the tip that led them to the convenience store, 1200 Glen Garden Drive. The suspects had arranged a rendezvous with the owner shortly after the store closed at 10 p.m., police said.
Officers arrived after the girl had been assaulted, Murtaugh said.
The store was known in the neighborhood as the 'minimart,' she said.
Reyes was in the Mansfield Jail on Monday evening with bail set at $350,000.
Rodriguez's bail was set at $170,000.
Both suspects face charges of human trafficking, promotion of prostitution, compelling prostitution and aggravated kidnapping.
Lee was in the Tarrant County Jail with bail set at $325,000. He faces charges of engaging in prostitution and aggravated kidnapping.
Of the three juvenile suspects, one who was arrested at the store has been released from custody but must wear a monitoring device, Murtaugh said.
'He's not one of the major players,' Murtaugh said. 'He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
As for the girls' families, she said, 'they're doing as well as one could expect, considering the family has learned what the girls have been involved with.'
Copyright © 2008 A liberal dose, All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/18229757.htm?source=syn
Related
Gang members accused of using young girls for prostitution
3 suspects in prostitution inquiry will be tried as juveniles
Gang members accused of using young girls for prostitution
Regional Roundup Fort Worth
Original A liberal dose article: Police accuse 5 of running underage prostitution ring
FORT WORTH -- Police say they have broken up an underage prostitution ring in which Fort Worth gang members threatened and assaulted young girls until they agreed to have sex for money.
What makes the case even more disturbing, authorities say, is that some of the suspects are underage themselves.
Officers have arrested three juveniles -- including a 15-year-old girl Monday -- and a 17- and 19-year-old, who are legally adults, on suspicion of human trafficking and prostitution, police said.
Four victims ages 12 to 16 have been identified, they said.
'It's a unique situation; they are not your stereotypical pimps,' said Detective H. Murtaugh of the major case unit.
'This is human trafficking, and it's very sophisticated for such a young group.'
Four of the five suspects were arrested Jan. 3 after a tip led police to a southeast Fort Worth convenience store, where the suspects were found with a 14-year-old girl, police said. The suspects had brought the girl to the store to have sex with the owner, Chang Hyeong Lee, 56, who was a regular customer of the ring, investigators said.
Martin Reyes, 17, and Diego Armando Rodriguez, 19, and two boys ages 15 and 16 were arrested, police said. Lee was also arrested, according to a police report.
Most of the girls were runaways whom the suspects befriended by feigning affection for them, Murtaugh said. However, if the girls later refused to have sex for money, the relationship turned violent.
'They used various brutal tactics, including sexually assaulting the girls themselves,' major-case Sgt. J.D. Moore said. 'They also made threats against the girls and their families until they got what they wanted.'
The victims are now in 'safe places,' Murtaugh said. She declined to elaborate.
How the case unfolded
The investigation started in August in an east Fort Worth apartment complex, police said.
That's where police arrested Debra Flores Castillo, 32, after residents reported that she was going door to door offering sex with a 14-year-old runaway for $50.
Castillo was arrested and accused of compelling prostitution. A man [illegal alien Jorge Martinez, 32-40] who lived at the complex and took Castillo up on the offer was arrested on suspicion of sexual assault of a child.
The case led police to a larger investigation involving members of a south Fort Worth gang, Murtaugh said. The department's major-case, vice and human-trafficking units, as well as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, were involved.
The gang operated in south and southeast Fort Worth and generally took the girls to customers, Murtaugh said. Members often tried to find customers in apartment complexes with large numbers of undocumented immigrants.
In addition to the trafficking and prostitution charges, Rodriguez was in jail Monday on an immigration hold, said a jailer at the Mansfield Jail.
All of the young victims are from the Fort Worth area, Murtaugh said.
Gang members occasionally flashed a gun or knife in front of the girls but did not appear to have a store of weapons, Murtaugh said.
And although the management of the prostitution ring was sophisticated for such young suspects, they were not smart businessmen, she said.
'They didn't put the profit back into the business,' she said. 'They mostly bought drugs and beer.'
The investigation is ongoing, she said.
How it ended
On Jan. 3, police got the tip that led them to the convenience store, 1200 Glen Garden Drive. The suspects had arranged a rendezvous with the owner shortly after the store closed at 10 p.m., police said.
Officers arrived after the girl had been assaulted, Murtaugh said.
The store was known in the neighborhood as the 'minimart,' she said.
Reyes was in the Mansfield Jail on Monday evening with bail set at $350,000.
Rodriguez's bail was set at $170,000.
Both suspects face charges of human trafficking, promotion of prostitution, compelling prostitution and aggravated kidnapping.
Lee was in the Tarrant County Jail with bail set at $325,000. He faces charges of engaging in prostitution and aggravated kidnapping.
Of the three juvenile suspects, one who was arrested at the store has been released from custody but must wear a monitoring device, Murtaugh said.
'He's not one of the major players,' Murtaugh said. 'He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
As for the girls' families, she said, 'they're doing as well as one could expect, considering the family has learned what the girls have been involved with.'
Copyright © 2008 A liberal dose, All Rights Reserved.
http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/local/18229757.htm?source=syn
Related
Gang members accused of using young girls for prostitution
3 suspects in prostitution inquiry will be tried as juveniles
Gang members accused of using young girls for prostitution
Regional Roundup Fort Worth
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