AZMEX UPDATE 13 NOV 2013
Note: Quick review; caught with a automatic weapon ( submachine gun if it reported correctly) in stash house, and 2.5 years??? No info on immigration status.
RR is Rio Rico a few miles north of Nogales, AZ
Man caught at RR stash house gets 2.5 years
Posted: Tuesday, November 12, 2013 8:44 am
Nogales International | 0 comments
http://www.nogalesinternational.com/news/man-caught-at-rr-stash-house-gets-years/article_6341dbfc-4bb1-11e3-94d8-001a4bcf887a.html
A Mexican man who was arrested while guarding nearly 2,500 pounds of marijuana at a stash house in Rio Rico has been sentenced to 2.5 years in state prison.
Jose Luis Dominguez de la Rosa, 46, of Santa Cruz, Sonora, was one of two men arrested following a "knock-and-talk" on June 18 at a residence on Adobe Court that resulted in the seizure of 2,499 pounds of pot and three firearms – including a submachine gun. The case against his co-defendant, Paul Chavez-Portillo, 25, of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, is still pending at Santa Cruz County Superior Court.
Both men were initially charged with one count each of possession marijuana for sale, and possession/use of a weapon in a drug offense. Dominguez subsequently pleaded guilty to one count of solicitation/unlawful transportation of marijuana for sale, a Class 4 felony. On Nov. 4, Judge James A. Soto sentenced him to the prison term.
According to a pre-sentence memo filed Oct. 31 by defense attorney Maria Davila, Dominguez was approached in June by someone who offered him $4,000 to guard a stash house in Rio Rico. "In a hugely regrettable lapse in judgment, Mr. Dominguez accepted the offer," Davila wrote.
He went to the house knowing only that here was marijuana inside, but not knowing how much, she wrote. "His intention was to do only the discrete task he was given, staying at the house and watching over the content until he was instructed that his job was complete and he would be paid."
According to Davila, Dominguez had no prior criminal history and had turned down several previous offers to get involved in the drug-smuggling trade. Financial troubles were what eventually drove him to take the job in Rio Rico.
"It was a marked deviation from an otherwise good and law-abiding life," she wrote.
In a news release issued at the time of the bust, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office had received a telephone tip that the home on Adobe Court was being used as a staging point for drug smuggling. Members of the ICE-led HIDTA Task Force then went to the home at around 11 p.m. on June 18.
"Task force members initiated surveillance on the house and observed Dominguez de la Rosa and Chavez-Portillo walking out the back door. When investigators attempted to question them, the pair took off running, but the men were quickly apprehended," the ICE release said.
After obtaining a search warrant, the agents entered the house and found the marijuana stacked in bales, as well as a 9mm semi-automatic pistol, a 9mm submachine gun, a .22-caliber rifle and 57 rounds of ammunition.
end
Note: Lesson learned? Don't interfere with drug shipments?
Suspended BP agents sentenced to prison
November 12, 2013 10:50 PM
BY JAMES GILBERT @YSJamesGilbert
A federal judge has sentenced two suspended Yuma Sector Border Patrol agents to prison as a result of their convictions for civil rights offenses. Both were ordered to self-surrender to begin serving their sentence on or before Jan. 14, 2014.
U.S. District Court Judge Jennifer G. Zipps sentenced agents Dario Castillo, 25, of Yuma, and Ramon Zuniga, 31, of San Luis, Ariz., to 24 months in prison. Following the completion of their prison sentences, they each will also serve a three-year term of supervised release.
On April 19, a federal jury in Tucson found Castillo guilty of four felony counts of deprivation of rights under color of law, and Zuniga guilty of four misdemeanor violations. The trial, which Zipps also presided over, began April 8.
"The United States Attorney's Office will continue to hold accountable all federal law enforcement officers in Arizona who abuse their authority in violation of their oath of office," said U.S. Attorney John S. Leonardo. "Violations of the law by those sworn to enforce it undermine public confidence in the entire criminal justice system and will not be tolerated. The sentences imposed today reinforce the fundamental principle that no one, including a law enforcement officer, is above the law."
Evidence at trial showed that on Nov. 12, 2008, Zuniga and Castillo participated in a Border Patrol operation to track and contact border-crossers in Southern Arizona. At approximately 10:30 p.m., agents located a group of persons carrying backpacks containing marijuana. Most of these individuals fled, but four of the group were apprehended by Castillo and Zuniga and two other agents.
During a search of the four, Zuniga discovered a small baggie of personal-use marijuana on one of the members of the group. He then shoved the marijuana into several of the victims' mouths and yelled "cometela" (eat it).
Castillo and Zuniga also ordered the victims to take off their shoes, socks, jackets and extra shirts, which the victims had layered to protect against the cold, leaving them barefoot and wearing a single layer of clothing.
Castillo also asked another agent for a cigarette lighter and then lit a fire using the victims' shoes and clothing. Zuniga and Castillo then ordered the victims to run away, without shoes or socks, and wearing only a single layer of clothing.
The four victims spent the night in the desert and were rescued the next morning by a tribal police officer.
James Gilbert can be reached at jgilbert@yumasun.com or 539-6854. Find him on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/YSJamesGilbert or on Twitter @YSJamesGilbert.
Read more: http://www.yumasun.com/articles/sentenced-90619-suspended-agents.html#ixzz2kY6lkLbo
Note: Of local interest mostly Sonoyta just south of the Lukeville, AZ border crossing on way to Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco)
Published November 12, 2013 , 1:55 a.m.
Body found in charred vehicle
The charred body of a person was found inside a burning vehicle in Sonoita , Sonora.
A few meters from the border in Sonoita
Alfonso CAMPOS- RUBIO
SONOYTA - Nuevo Dia
http://www.nuevodia.com.mx/estado/hallan-cadaver-calcinado-en-vehiculo/
Around ten o'clock on Sunday inside an old truck burned , about two kilometers from the International border was located the body of an unknown person shot dead , while to the rear another vehicle was found in similar conditions and several holes left by firearm projectiles , but until now do not report any arrests .
This happened at kilometer 28.5 of the Federal Highway Two direction of SLRC , toward the Ejido Cerro Colorado and about 2.2 miles from the territorial division with Arizona, where the body was detected in the Chevrolet Suburban, Baja California plates, the pick -up, also shot and burned , being located several rounds of pistol ammunition and machinegun shell cases.
END
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