Can the Border Patrol handle a Mexican drug war and illegal immigration on its own?
By KTRH's Scott Crowder
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Colonel Robert Canon is the Guard's Commander of Operation Jumpstart in Texas. "It was just supposed to be the two years, to give them (Border Patrol) a chance to increase their numbers."
Lloyd Easterling of the Border Patrol says the operation has been successful. "We're seeing less and less illegal cross border traffic. So it's something that we've managed to continue to gain incrementally -- is security along that border."
But Minutemen President Chris Simcox doesn't think the Border Patrol is ready. "At this point Border Patrol still needs not only the 6,000 agents and the 6,000 personnel of the National Guard, they need about 10,000 more."
Woodlands Congressman Kevin Brady says he's working to extend the guard's operation. "Like having more police in your local neighborhood, having more eyes and ears on the border for surveillance and protection has really been a help."
Congressman Brady says it's still possible Congress can authorize the funding to keep Operation Jumpstart going.
Showing posts with label Operation Jumpstart. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Operation Jumpstart. Show all posts
July 12, 2008
Operation Jumpstart ends on quiet note
7/12/08
Jeremy Roebuck
EDINBURG -- The Texas National Guard is set to end a two-year border security mission this week.
And while the guardsmen's arrival in South Texas was met with concern from civil liberties groups, the soldiers have departed with relatively little fanfare.
Most of the more than 500 guardsmen once stationed in the Rio Grande Valley have already been released from border duty even though their mission isn't set to expire until Tuesday, said Dan Doty, a local spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol.
"I still see one or two of them around occasionally," he said. "But most of them have already left."
President Bush ordered the deployment of 6,000 Guard members from across the nation's southern border in 2006 in hopes of temporarily filling personnel gaps in the Border Patrol's ranks.
Dubbed "Operation Jumpstart," the president's plan positioned 3,000 troops in South Texas, where they worked in support roles such as monitoring information centers and repairing vehicles.
The effort freed up hundreds of Border Patrol agents for fieldwork, while the agency set to hiring 6,000 new personnel of its own.
But critics decried the plan, fearing guardsmen would be put to work enforcing federal law and militarizing the border. Their domestic efforts are legally limited to emergency and disaster assistance.
"We continue to be very concerned about blurring the line between civil and criminal border policing," said Rebecca Bernhardt, a policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, in February 2007
But Col. William Meehan, a spokesman for the Texas Military Forces - the umbrella organization for the Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air National Guard and Texas State Guard - said soldiers remained conscious of those concerns throughout Jumpstart's duration.
"From the beginning we never arrived as a law enforcement force," he said. "We were very careful to remain in support roles."
Still, some Texas Guardsmen landed in trouble, including three stationed in Laredo who were arrested for allegedly running an immigrant smuggling operation.
But many more found permanent jobs through their temporary assignments, Meehan said. About 30 members of the Texas Guard have joined the Border Patrol full-time since the beginning of Jumpstart.
The plan went so smoothly that governors in four border states have asked the Bush administration to extend the Guard's deployment.
Earlier this year, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch supporter of Jumpstart from the beginning, lobbied for an extension in light of rising border violence in areas such as Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez, across the border from Laredo and El Paso, respectively.
While Perry still has the power to station the state's Guard troops wherever he deems necessary, the federal government picked up the tab under Operation Jumpstart.
"The governor has certainly been in favor of an extension and is disappointed that it doesn't look like it will be happening," spokeswoman Allison Castle said.
The governors of Arizona, California and New Mexico also asked Congress for an extension, even though the California and New Mexico governors had earlier panned the plan.
In the Valley, the Border Patrol has hired enough new agents to replace nearly all of the guardsmen once stationed here, said Doty, the agency's local spokesman.
"We're sitting in a pretty good place with our hiring," he said. "There won't be any loss of service with (Jumpstart's) end."
The Bush administration has given no indication it plans to extend Jumpstart's mission. But should that order come, the Texas Guard will be ready, Meehan said.
"It was a great opportunity for us to serve the citizens of Texas," he said. ‘We look forward to doing it again if necessary."
Jeremy Roebuck
EDINBURG -- The Texas National Guard is set to end a two-year border security mission this week.
And while the guardsmen's arrival in South Texas was met with concern from civil liberties groups, the soldiers have departed with relatively little fanfare.
Most of the more than 500 guardsmen once stationed in the Rio Grande Valley have already been released from border duty even though their mission isn't set to expire until Tuesday, said Dan Doty, a local spokesman for the U.S. Border Patrol.
"I still see one or two of them around occasionally," he said. "But most of them have already left."
President Bush ordered the deployment of 6,000 Guard members from across the nation's southern border in 2006 in hopes of temporarily filling personnel gaps in the Border Patrol's ranks.
Dubbed "Operation Jumpstart," the president's plan positioned 3,000 troops in South Texas, where they worked in support roles such as monitoring information centers and repairing vehicles.
The effort freed up hundreds of Border Patrol agents for fieldwork, while the agency set to hiring 6,000 new personnel of its own.
But critics decried the plan, fearing guardsmen would be put to work enforcing federal law and militarizing the border. Their domestic efforts are legally limited to emergency and disaster assistance.
"We continue to be very concerned about blurring the line between civil and criminal border policing," said Rebecca Bernhardt, a policy director for the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, in February 2007
But Col. William Meehan, a spokesman for the Texas Military Forces - the umbrella organization for the Texas Army National Guard, Texas Air National Guard and Texas State Guard - said soldiers remained conscious of those concerns throughout Jumpstart's duration.
"From the beginning we never arrived as a law enforcement force," he said. "We were very careful to remain in support roles."
Still, some Texas Guardsmen landed in trouble, including three stationed in Laredo who were arrested for allegedly running an immigrant smuggling operation.
But many more found permanent jobs through their temporary assignments, Meehan said. About 30 members of the Texas Guard have joined the Border Patrol full-time since the beginning of Jumpstart.
The plan went so smoothly that governors in four border states have asked the Bush administration to extend the Guard's deployment.
Earlier this year, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a staunch supporter of Jumpstart from the beginning, lobbied for an extension in light of rising border violence in areas such as Nuevo Laredo and Ciudad Juarez, across the border from Laredo and El Paso, respectively.
While Perry still has the power to station the state's Guard troops wherever he deems necessary, the federal government picked up the tab under Operation Jumpstart.
"The governor has certainly been in favor of an extension and is disappointed that it doesn't look like it will be happening," spokeswoman Allison Castle said.
The governors of Arizona, California and New Mexico also asked Congress for an extension, even though the California and New Mexico governors had earlier panned the plan.
In the Valley, the Border Patrol has hired enough new agents to replace nearly all of the guardsmen once stationed here, said Doty, the agency's local spokesman.
"We're sitting in a pretty good place with our hiring," he said. "There won't be any loss of service with (Jumpstart's) end."
The Bush administration has given no indication it plans to extend Jumpstart's mission. But should that order come, the Texas Guard will be ready, Meehan said.
"It was a great opportunity for us to serve the citizens of Texas," he said. ‘We look forward to doing it again if necessary."
June 20, 2008
Border governors worried about National Guard pullout
Border governors worried about National Guard pullout
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN – 8 hours ago
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The thousands of National Guardsmen sent to reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border two years ago have almost completely withdrawn, despite pleas from border-state governors once skeptical of using soldiers to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.
When the Guard was posted along the southern frontier in 2006 to help the strapped Border Patrol, critics warned that sending soldiers would be an insult to Mexico and that innocents could get shot by troops trained for combat, not law enforcement.
But none of that happened, and now those worries have given way to fears that a bloody drug-cartel war on the Mexican side will spill into the U.S. and overwhelm the Border Patrol.
The four border-state governors who contributed the bulk of the troops have tried in vain to persuade Congress and the White House to extend the Guard's presence, which will end as scheduled on July 15.
"Until Border Patrol has all its new boots on the ground, there's going to be a vulnerability," said Pahl Shipley, spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
The Border Patrol said the National Guard force, which reached a peak of 6,000 before diminishing last year, bought it enough time to hire and train more agents. The patrol expressed confidence that it can hold the line on its own.
"We're fine taking over. It's all part of our plan," said Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling.
Only a few hundred Guardsmen are left on the border, most of them finishing up construction projects in Arizona and New Mexico.
The Guardsmen were sent in a support role, not to seize illegal immigrants and smugglers. They used helicopters and night-vision gear to watch for people trying to slip across the border, then told Border Patrol agents where to find them. They also built roads and fences.
The Border Patrol's ranks have swelled by nearly 5,000 since the beginning of Operation Jump Start, reaching more than 16,400. But the Border Patrol is still short of the 18,000-agent goal set for the end of the year. And border-state officials note those numbers include new hires who are not necessarily in place along the border yet.
Also, drug violence is surging in Mexican border areas, and "we certainly don't want that to spill across the border," Shipley said.
In late April, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano joined Richardson in signing a letter to Capitol Hill leaders begging them to extend the National Guard's presence.
"It is irresponsible to phase out the current support of the National Guard without the infrastructure and full-time personnel to fill the gap," the letter said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry also lobbied Washington to keep the soldiers in his state, which constitutes 1,255 miles of the 1,950-mile U.S. border with Mexico.
"Not only when you cut down on law enforcement presence, but when it is known, there is an obvious threat," said Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer.
There was not the same unanimity when President Bush announced the plan in May 2006.
Then, Richardson worried the Guard would be stretched too thin heading into wildfire season. And Schwarzenegger said the National Guard was not trained for law enforcement duty. Perry and Napolitano supported the president's plan.
Eventually all four governors signed an agreement allowing their National Guard units to participate in Jump Start.
And despite fears of a repeat of 1997, when a Marine assisting the Drug Enforcement Administration in Texas mistakenly shot and killed a teenage goat-herder, not one Guardsmen shot anyone in the force's two years on the border.
In fact, the mission was criticized in January 2007 after several heavily armed men approached an observation site in remote Arizona and the National Guardsmen pulled back and radioed for the Border Patrol, as instructed, instead of shooting it out.
The soldiers were also credited with saving lives. When deadly tornados struck the Texas border town of Eagle Pass in April 2007, National Guardsmen on border duty were among the first to arrive. Two Texas National Guard soldiers received a medal for risking their lives to pull a woman from the Rio Grande in 2006.
"I think peoples' minds were changed on what the guard is here for," said Texas National Guard Col. Robert Canon, who oversaw Jump Start in Texas.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gygRG8QRe1aX8WFv7tuDXHc0K_TgD91DVUDO1
By CHRISTOPHER SHERMAN – 8 hours ago
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — The thousands of National Guardsmen sent to reinforce the U.S.-Mexican border two years ago have almost completely withdrawn, despite pleas from border-state governors once skeptical of using soldiers to catch illegal immigrants and drug smugglers.
When the Guard was posted along the southern frontier in 2006 to help the strapped Border Patrol, critics warned that sending soldiers would be an insult to Mexico and that innocents could get shot by troops trained for combat, not law enforcement.
But none of that happened, and now those worries have given way to fears that a bloody drug-cartel war on the Mexican side will spill into the U.S. and overwhelm the Border Patrol.
The four border-state governors who contributed the bulk of the troops have tried in vain to persuade Congress and the White House to extend the Guard's presence, which will end as scheduled on July 15.
"Until Border Patrol has all its new boots on the ground, there's going to be a vulnerability," said Pahl Shipley, spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
The Border Patrol said the National Guard force, which reached a peak of 6,000 before diminishing last year, bought it enough time to hire and train more agents. The patrol expressed confidence that it can hold the line on its own.
"We're fine taking over. It's all part of our plan," said Border Patrol spokesman Lloyd Easterling.
Only a few hundred Guardsmen are left on the border, most of them finishing up construction projects in Arizona and New Mexico.
The Guardsmen were sent in a support role, not to seize illegal immigrants and smugglers. They used helicopters and night-vision gear to watch for people trying to slip across the border, then told Border Patrol agents where to find them. They also built roads and fences.
The Border Patrol's ranks have swelled by nearly 5,000 since the beginning of Operation Jump Start, reaching more than 16,400. But the Border Patrol is still short of the 18,000-agent goal set for the end of the year. And border-state officials note those numbers include new hires who are not necessarily in place along the border yet.
Also, drug violence is surging in Mexican border areas, and "we certainly don't want that to spill across the border," Shipley said.
In late April, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano joined Richardson in signing a letter to Capitol Hill leaders begging them to extend the National Guard's presence.
"It is irresponsible to phase out the current support of the National Guard without the infrastructure and full-time personnel to fill the gap," the letter said.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry also lobbied Washington to keep the soldiers in his state, which constitutes 1,255 miles of the 1,950-mile U.S. border with Mexico.
"Not only when you cut down on law enforcement presence, but when it is known, there is an obvious threat," said Perry spokeswoman Krista Piferrer.
There was not the same unanimity when President Bush announced the plan in May 2006.
Then, Richardson worried the Guard would be stretched too thin heading into wildfire season. And Schwarzenegger said the National Guard was not trained for law enforcement duty. Perry and Napolitano supported the president's plan.
Eventually all four governors signed an agreement allowing their National Guard units to participate in Jump Start.
And despite fears of a repeat of 1997, when a Marine assisting the Drug Enforcement Administration in Texas mistakenly shot and killed a teenage goat-herder, not one Guardsmen shot anyone in the force's two years on the border.
In fact, the mission was criticized in January 2007 after several heavily armed men approached an observation site in remote Arizona and the National Guardsmen pulled back and radioed for the Border Patrol, as instructed, instead of shooting it out.
The soldiers were also credited with saving lives. When deadly tornados struck the Texas border town of Eagle Pass in April 2007, National Guardsmen on border duty were among the first to arrive. Two Texas National Guard soldiers received a medal for risking their lives to pull a woman from the Rio Grande in 2006.
"I think peoples' minds were changed on what the guard is here for," said Texas National Guard Col. Robert Canon, who oversaw Jump Start in Texas.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gygRG8QRe1aX8WFv7tuDXHc0K_TgD91DVUDO1
June 15, 2008
Smuggling case leaves Guardsman from Fort Worth full of regret
Smuggling case leaves Guardsman from Fort Worth full of regret
By CHRIS VAUGHNStar-Telegram staff writer
Posted on Sun, Jun. 15, 2008
Twelve months and eight days ago, Sgt. Clarence Hodge thought he had all he wanted.
He had 19 years in the Army National Guard. He enjoyed his active-duty assignment on the Mexican border, intercepting drugs and illegal immigrants. He had a great job with Delta Air Lines, close friends, a wife, two daughters.
He was only weeks away from going to warrant officer school, a long-held ambition with more responsibility in the Guard.
Then he lost it all, the moment U.S. Border Patrol agents showed up at his Laredo checkpoint on June 7, 2007, put him in handcuffs, and read him his Miranda rights.
But Hodge, a Fort Worth native now serving time in a federal prison, knew that wasn't when he really lost his freedom. He took it away, all on his own, several weeks before he got arrested.
"I took a chance and got bit," he said. "I always wanted to do the right thing and get by the honest way. Until now. And I'm paying for it."
Hodge's final bill came due in February, when U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen sentenced him to 38 months in prison for his role in an illegal-immigrant smuggling ring operated by three National Guard buddies assigned to a high-profile effort to secure the border.
He pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in August 2007, and the government dropped the rest of the charges. Two other National Guard soldiers, Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco and Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres, both Laredo natives, also pleaded guilty but have not been sentenced. Pacheco's sister and brother-in-law were also indicted in the ring.
Ordered to South Texas for Operation Jumpstart, President Bush's military response to withering criticism of his border policies, the soldiers ended up in national news, seen as an further evidence of the border and its unique ability to corrupt.
People who know Hodge can still hardly believe what he did. "He has always been so on the straight and narrow, no foolishness," said his mother, Marilyn Hodge. "I can't believe my son was involved in criminal activity."
His wife did not return messages left by phone and at their house.
Clarence Hodge Jr. is 37 and the oldest child of a Vietnam veteran and a community activist and Everman school board member. He spent most of his elementary school years at the old-moneyed Fort Worth Country Day School, where his mother remembers him as the only black child in his grade.
He lived a quiet and ordinary middle-class life, working, serving his country, raising a family and making his mother proud -- at least before the summer of 2007, when it all came unraveling.
'I took a chance'
A few weeks ago, the government moved Hodge to an all-male, low-security prison in Texarkana. He shares a cell with four other men, gets up at 5:30, goes to work as a landscaper on the grounds, reads and writes letters and e-mails, and works out every day.
"I'm more or less getting settled in," he said. "I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take, and I'm not sure how long it will take."
The warden denied a personal visit from a Star-Telegram reporter but allowed Hodge to talk on the telephone for 30 minutes.
Hodge repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions, and he apologized to his family, friends and the military for "letting them down." He also indicated that he got involved in the smuggling ring for unselfish reasons, to help Torres out of financial problems, although he doesn't sound entirely convinced that he knows why he did it.
"I think about it every day," he said. "I had almost 20 years in the military. I had 17 years on my day job. I didn't need the money. I took a chance. I saw an opportunity."
The smuggling ring worked like this, according to the government: Hodge checked out a National Guard van for Torres. After getting instructions from Pacheco, Torres picked up the illegal immigrants at the house of Pacheco's sister in Laredo and drove to the checkpoint where Hodge was working. Then Torres would drive north on Interstate 35 to let the immigrants out.
This was Hodge's role in a nutshell -- "I, more or less, turned my head and let him pass." He was nervous every time he did it, he said, but he thought the plan was "flawless."
They succeeded several times in May and early June, helping close to 90 illegal immigrants get deeper into Texas. But on June 7, a Border Patrol agent got suspicious that the van was too heavy to be empty. Torres was followed and later arrested with 24 illegal immigrants hidden in the van. Hodge and Pacheco were arrested within two hours.
Hodge said he agreed to participate in the operation because Torres, a good friend and junior soldier, needed the money.
"They owned a family restaurant, and they owed back taxes," Hodge said of Torres' family. "He had a business also, and it was going in the dumps. He hopped on the [National Guard] mission to make a little money. ... I knew he could capitalize on this situation. ... I knew it was good money for him."
Hodge said he made "a few thousand" dollars, but he wouldn't be more specific. Money, he said, was not his motivation, nor did Pacheco pressure him.
"I've owned up to it," he said. Pacheco "didn't hold a gun to my head. I agreed to it. ... I didn't look at the big picture. I thought we'd make him some quick money, and that'd be it."
Reprimanded by the judge at his sentencing, Hodge openly wept as he apologized for his decisions.
"I never heard Clarence cry before," his mother said. "It made the hair on my arms stand up."
Full of regret
Memorial Day, his first in custody, bothered him greatly. It was, he said, perhaps his lowest point.
"I considered myself a loyal soldier all these years," he said. "I saw all the parades and ceremonies on TV in here. I know I was one of those soldiers at one time. Not now."
No one from the Texas National Guard has contacted him since his arrest, and he is unsure of whether he faces more prison time for violating military law. All three men remain on the National Guard rolls to preserve Lt. Gen. Charles Rodriguez's option of prosecuting them.
Col. Bill Meehan, a spokesman for Guard headquarters in Austin, said Rodriguez "has not made any determination regarding military justice because the civilian criminal justice system still hasn't rendered its final verdicts."
Hodge said he has set short-term and long-term goals in prison and tries to stay busy "instead of sitting and watching TV all day." He hopes to enroll in a class to learn how to install and repair heating and air-conditioning systems.
The hardest part, without a doubt, is being away from his wife and daughters, he said. He hasn't had a visitor since moving to Texarkana, although his mother and daughters are due today for Father's Day.
His mother said she frequently reminds him to not be negative and to stay positive: Make it a good day. Don't say anything about the criminal justice system; it's your fault.
But she also tells him that her support is unwavering.
"I don't like what he did, but I'm still proud of him," she said.
Hodge, wearing a prison uniform, vows to try to restore his life and reputation when he gets out. But he is a guilty man who feels every bit of the guilt.
"I went from role model to scum," he said.
cvaughn@star-telegram.com
CHRIS VAUGHN, 817-390-7547
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/700850.html
By CHRIS VAUGHNStar-Telegram staff writer
Posted on Sun, Jun. 15, 2008
Twelve months and eight days ago, Sgt. Clarence Hodge thought he had all he wanted.
He had 19 years in the Army National Guard. He enjoyed his active-duty assignment on the Mexican border, intercepting drugs and illegal immigrants. He had a great job with Delta Air Lines, close friends, a wife, two daughters.
He was only weeks away from going to warrant officer school, a long-held ambition with more responsibility in the Guard.
Then he lost it all, the moment U.S. Border Patrol agents showed up at his Laredo checkpoint on June 7, 2007, put him in handcuffs, and read him his Miranda rights.
But Hodge, a Fort Worth native now serving time in a federal prison, knew that wasn't when he really lost his freedom. He took it away, all on his own, several weeks before he got arrested.
"I took a chance and got bit," he said. "I always wanted to do the right thing and get by the honest way. Until now. And I'm paying for it."
Hodge's final bill came due in February, when U.S. District Judge George P. Kazen sentenced him to 38 months in prison for his role in an illegal-immigrant smuggling ring operated by three National Guard buddies assigned to a high-profile effort to secure the border.
He pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in August 2007, and the government dropped the rest of the charges. Two other National Guard soldiers, Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco and Pfc. Jose Rodrigo Torres, both Laredo natives, also pleaded guilty but have not been sentenced. Pacheco's sister and brother-in-law were also indicted in the ring.
Ordered to South Texas for Operation Jumpstart, President Bush's military response to withering criticism of his border policies, the soldiers ended up in national news, seen as an further evidence of the border and its unique ability to corrupt.
People who know Hodge can still hardly believe what he did. "He has always been so on the straight and narrow, no foolishness," said his mother, Marilyn Hodge. "I can't believe my son was involved in criminal activity."
His wife did not return messages left by phone and at their house.
Clarence Hodge Jr. is 37 and the oldest child of a Vietnam veteran and a community activist and Everman school board member. He spent most of his elementary school years at the old-moneyed Fort Worth Country Day School, where his mother remembers him as the only black child in his grade.
He lived a quiet and ordinary middle-class life, working, serving his country, raising a family and making his mother proud -- at least before the summer of 2007, when it all came unraveling.
'I took a chance'
A few weeks ago, the government moved Hodge to an all-male, low-security prison in Texarkana. He shares a cell with four other men, gets up at 5:30, goes to work as a landscaper on the grounds, reads and writes letters and e-mails, and works out every day.
"I'm more or less getting settled in," he said. "I'm not sure how long it's supposed to take, and I'm not sure how long it will take."
The warden denied a personal visit from a Star-Telegram reporter but allowed Hodge to talk on the telephone for 30 minutes.
Hodge repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions, and he apologized to his family, friends and the military for "letting them down." He also indicated that he got involved in the smuggling ring for unselfish reasons, to help Torres out of financial problems, although he doesn't sound entirely convinced that he knows why he did it.
"I think about it every day," he said. "I had almost 20 years in the military. I had 17 years on my day job. I didn't need the money. I took a chance. I saw an opportunity."
The smuggling ring worked like this, according to the government: Hodge checked out a National Guard van for Torres. After getting instructions from Pacheco, Torres picked up the illegal immigrants at the house of Pacheco's sister in Laredo and drove to the checkpoint where Hodge was working. Then Torres would drive north on Interstate 35 to let the immigrants out.
This was Hodge's role in a nutshell -- "I, more or less, turned my head and let him pass." He was nervous every time he did it, he said, but he thought the plan was "flawless."
They succeeded several times in May and early June, helping close to 90 illegal immigrants get deeper into Texas. But on June 7, a Border Patrol agent got suspicious that the van was too heavy to be empty. Torres was followed and later arrested with 24 illegal immigrants hidden in the van. Hodge and Pacheco were arrested within two hours.
Hodge said he agreed to participate in the operation because Torres, a good friend and junior soldier, needed the money.
"They owned a family restaurant, and they owed back taxes," Hodge said of Torres' family. "He had a business also, and it was going in the dumps. He hopped on the [National Guard] mission to make a little money. ... I knew he could capitalize on this situation. ... I knew it was good money for him."
Hodge said he made "a few thousand" dollars, but he wouldn't be more specific. Money, he said, was not his motivation, nor did Pacheco pressure him.
"I've owned up to it," he said. Pacheco "didn't hold a gun to my head. I agreed to it. ... I didn't look at the big picture. I thought we'd make him some quick money, and that'd be it."
Reprimanded by the judge at his sentencing, Hodge openly wept as he apologized for his decisions.
"I never heard Clarence cry before," his mother said. "It made the hair on my arms stand up."
Full of regret
Memorial Day, his first in custody, bothered him greatly. It was, he said, perhaps his lowest point.
"I considered myself a loyal soldier all these years," he said. "I saw all the parades and ceremonies on TV in here. I know I was one of those soldiers at one time. Not now."
No one from the Texas National Guard has contacted him since his arrest, and he is unsure of whether he faces more prison time for violating military law. All three men remain on the National Guard rolls to preserve Lt. Gen. Charles Rodriguez's option of prosecuting them.
Col. Bill Meehan, a spokesman for Guard headquarters in Austin, said Rodriguez "has not made any determination regarding military justice because the civilian criminal justice system still hasn't rendered its final verdicts."
Hodge said he has set short-term and long-term goals in prison and tries to stay busy "instead of sitting and watching TV all day." He hopes to enroll in a class to learn how to install and repair heating and air-conditioning systems.
The hardest part, without a doubt, is being away from his wife and daughters, he said. He hasn't had a visitor since moving to Texarkana, although his mother and daughters are due today for Father's Day.
His mother said she frequently reminds him to not be negative and to stay positive: Make it a good day. Don't say anything about the criminal justice system; it's your fault.
But she also tells him that her support is unwavering.
"I don't like what he did, but I'm still proud of him," she said.
Hodge, wearing a prison uniform, vows to try to restore his life and reputation when he gets out. But he is a guilty man who feels every bit of the guilt.
"I went from role model to scum," he said.
cvaughn@star-telegram.com
CHRIS VAUGHN, 817-390-7547
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/700850.html
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