AZMEX SPECIAL 17-11-12

AZMEX SPECIAL 17 NOV 2012

Texas trucker released from Mexican prison
Fri, 11/16/2012 - 8:16pm
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.svherald.com/associatedpress/340455

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Texas truck driver who says he made a wrong turn
into Mexico with a trailer full of ammunition has been released from
prison but remains in the custody of immigration authorities, U.S.
officials said Friday.
The U.S. Embassy in Mexico said that 27-year-old Jabin Bogan was
freed from a maximum security prison in the state of Veracruz. It did
not say why immigration authorities were holding him, or when he is
expected to return to the U.S., but Bogan likely is accused of
violating immigration rules when he entered Mexico.

Bogan's family and lawyers declined to comment. He had faced up to 30
years in prison on an ammunition trafficking charge, but the judge
reduced the charge to possession of ammunition after testimony from
Mexican customs agents contradicted prosecutors' claim that Bogan hid
268,000 bullets under floorboards.
Bogan's mother, Aletha Smith, has told The Associated Press that the
truck driver had been ordered to pay a fine in order to be released.

Bogan crossed from Texas into Juarez, Mexico, on April 17.
Agents testified in June that Bogan was trying to make a U-turn back
into the U.S. when they found the ammunition bundled on top of wooden
pallets inside the trailer.
Since then, Bogan's lawyers and family in the U.S. have cried foul,
saying the ammunition charge was too hefty for what they claim was an
honest mistake.

Bogan had made two deliveries in El Paso, Texas, and said he was
supposed to drive to Phoenix to deliver assault rifle ammunition to a
wholesaler there when he got lost. He said he took a wrong exit on
the freeway and drove toward the border, where he said a law
enforcement official told him to continue driving across the bridge.
Bogan said that when he realized he had crossed into Mexico, he
attempted to turn back, but the layout of the traffic lanes prevented
him from returning without first crossing into the truck inspection
area in Juarez.

Bogan's attorneys have said surveillance footage taken at the border
crossing shows Bogan blocking several lanes of southbound traffic for
more than half an hour while trying to maneuver his 18-wheeler back
to U.S. soil.

Mexican prosecutors alleged he tried to clandestinely smuggle bullets
commonly used by drug cartels.