AZMEX SPECIAL 30-4-14

AZMEX SPECIAL 30 APR 2014

Note: This is the corruption story Ildifonso Ortiz had been covering.


Five of the Panama Unit trial individuals were sentenced, 6 to be sentenced tomorrow
Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 9:00 pm
Daniella Diaz and Dave Hendricks | The Monitor

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/five-of-the-panama-unit-trial-individuals-were-sentenced-to/article_4076b596-d00b-11e3-affd-001a4bcf6878.html

McALLEN — U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced four disgraced lawmen Tuesday for participating in the Panama Unit corruption scandal, handing down prison terms ranging from eight to 10 years.
The Panama Unit scandal eventually enveloped 12 men — nine lawmen and three drug traffickers — and cast a shadow over the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office. Tuesday's sentencing, which will continue this morning, marked the end.
Family and friends packed the ninth-floor courtroom at the Bentsen Tower. With reporters, attorneys and reporters all jockeying for space, the defendants awaited sentencing in the jury box.
Crane considered four lawmen and one drug trafficker individually on Tuesday, starting with 60-year-old former Deputy Jorge Garza, the only person involved who didn't plead guilty. A jury convicted him at trial.
"It seemed like easy money," Crane said, referencing Garza's cooperation with drug traffickers, who paid him to conduct fake traffic stops. "(This) caused you to compromise your principles and become a criminal."
Afterwards, Crane offered Garza an opportunity to apologize.
"I'm truly sorry," Garza told the court. "I want to apologize to all of the people of Hidalgo County."
Former Deputy Claudio Mata apologized. So did James Phil "J.P." Flores, who headed the Hidalgo County Crime Stoppers program. Even drug trafficker Fernando Guerra Jr. attempted to make amends.
Only former Deputy Gerardo Mendoza Duran declined to speak, opting not to take the opportunity to apologize. Afterward, Crane handed down their prison sentences.

>> Crane sentenced former Deputy Jorge Garza to 10 years and one month in prison with four years of supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced drug trafficker Fernando Guerra Jr. to eight years in prison, with four years of supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy James Phil "JP" Flores to 10 years in prison with four years supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy Claudio Mata to 11 years and eight months in prison with four years of supervised release.
>> Crane sentenced former Deputy Gerardo Mendoza Duran to eight years in prison with four years of supervised release.

Crane granted Guerra Jr., Mata, Flores and Mendoza Duran reduced sentences for providing information to federal investigators.
The FBI and the Homeland Security Investigations division of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement started investigating the Panama Unit — an anti-narcotics task force that brought together sheriff's deputies and Mission police Investigator Jonathan Treviño, the son of Hidalgo County Sheriff Lupe Treviño — during August 2012, according to federal court records.
The investigation went public on Dec. 12, 2012, when the crooked cops discovered GPS tracking devices hidden within a cocaine shipment.
Initially, federal agents arrested Jonathan Treviño, two sheriff's deputies and Mission police Investigator Alexis Espinoza, the son of Hidalgo police Chief Rudy Espinoza. Prosecutors eventually indicted nine lawmen and three drug traffickers.
After several delays, sentencing began Tuesday, following a lengthy court discussion about whether or not the disgraced lawmen would face stiffer sentences for wearing body armor when they stole drugs and escorted narcotics shipments.
When Mata was sentenced, his family could be heard sobbing behind him.
At one point, former Deputy Salvador Arguello, who wasn't sentenced Tuesday, bent over in his seat. He occasionally brought his hands together, closed his eyes and prayed. Arguello was the most notably anxious. Others seemed relatively nonplussed.
They're set for sentencing Wednesday.
"I guess this is one more night of freedom," Crane said before adjourning the sentencing hearing, sending five lawmen home for the night.

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