Crime Blog | Your filter to El Paso area police blotters and court dockets

LA Times: Packed with heroin, burrito used in sting had bite

(Los Angeles Times) -- The young woman sat by herself in a hallway of the bustling courthouse, nervously clasping a brown paper bag. Inside was a warm bean and cheese burrito stuffed with 24 grams of black tar heroin.

Henry Marin, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy, peeked out from a courtroom and waved her over.

Lunchtime was approaching — lawyers in suits clutched their briefcases and witnesses waited to testify.

As the handoff was made, no one appeared to be paying attention — until a voice commanded: "Deputy Marin, you need to stop."

What Marin didn't realize was that the hallway bystanders were undercover sheriff's investigators. And the woman was a cog in an elaborate sting targeting him and another deputy suspected of smuggling drugs into the county's lockups for inmates in a notorious prison gang.

To read more, click here.

'Blind mules' unknowingly ferry drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border

(CNN) -- Every weekday, Juan Andres drives across the U.S.-Mexico border from his home in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, to the University of Texas at El Paso.

The three-and-a-half-mile commute takes him a world away from a major flashpoint in Mexico's drug cartel war, away from a city with one of the world's highest murder rates.

Andres, who agreed to speak to CNN under the condition that his name was changed, has always been keenly aware of his and his family's safety while living in Juarez.

"The city was already pretty dangerous. We tried not to go to restaurants and things like that where [kidnappings] could happen," he said.

A few years ago, Andres walked away from his career as an optometrist in Mexico to follow his passion: music.

To read more, click here.

Deming gang member gets 40 years in prison

DEMING, N.M. -- Daniel Ramon Munoz, 30, of Deming, was sentenced Friday to 40 years for drug trafficking and attempted escape in a federal court in Las Cruces, according to a release from the Department of Justice.

Munoz, also known as "Rhino" and a member of the Sureño gang, must also serve a 10-year term of supervised release after he completes his prison sentence. The Sureños gang originated in Southern California.

On Aug. 30, 2010, he pleaded guilty to eight counts related to conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to distribute, and attempting to escape from the Luna County Detention Center in December 2009.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, in July 2009 tried to smuggle methamphetamine into the United States from Mexico by using women to conceal the drugs in their body cavities. The U.S. Attorney's Office said that during his plea hearing, he also admitted that while in federal custody, he had a handcuff key in his possession which he intended to use to escape from jail.

To read more, click here.

EP woman pleads guilty in massive heroin bust

FROM THE BEACON NEWS -- A Texas woman will serve at least 15 years in prison after admitting she was a drug mule, responsible for bringing millions of dollars worth of heroin to Illinois.

Claudia Chagoya, 42, of El Paso, Texas, was stopped in April, when an alert officer noticed suspicious behavior and unusual car maintenance during a routine traffic stop.

On Wednesday, Chagoya agreed to a 20-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, the Kane County state’s attorney’s office said.

Chagoya must serve at least 75 percent of the sentence. She was given credit for more than 200 days she has already served in the Kane County jail.

To read more about the case, click here.

Former probate judge to seek family law bench

A former probate court judge will announce she is seeking the bench of a family law court.

Yvonne Rodriguez will host a campaign announcement from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at The Garden, 511 Western in the Union Plaza.

At the event, Rodriguez, the former judge of Probate Court No. 1, will formally announce she is running for judge of the 388th District Court.

Rodriguez will be running against family law attorneys Donald L. “Don” Williams and Laura Strathmann. The 388th District Court is currently presided by Judge Patricia Macias.

Williams will hold a fundraising event and campaign announcement on Oct. 25 at the Doubletree Hotel in Downtown El Paso. Strathmann hosted her own fundraiser and announcement event last month.

 

Attorney announces candidacy for 388th District Court

A local attorney will formally announce his candidacy for the 388th District Court bench during a fundraising event later this month.
Donald L. “Don” Williams will host a campaign announcement and fundraiser from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Oct. 25 in the Sky Lounge of the Doubletree Hotel, 600 N. El Paso.
Williams specializes in family law and is seeking the bench currently presided by Judge Patricia Macias. Family law attorney Laura Strathmann has also announced her candidacy for the position.

                                                

Follow me on Twitter for the latest breaking news and traffic alerts. @AChavezEPTimes

Defense attorney to run for 41st District Court

Defense attorney Miguel Cervantes plans to file paperwork to officially run for the 41st District Court bench by the end of the day, he said this morning.

Cervantes has been practicing law for 35 years in both Texas and Colorado. He said he thought it was time he run for judgeship.

Judge Mary Anne Bramblett, who presides over the 41st District Court, has yet to announce whether or not she will be seeking re-election. Cervantes said he has the utmost respect for Bramblett, whom he called "a wonderful person," but thinks it's time that Bramblett "pass the baton to someone else."

Bramblett was the first woman elected district judge in El Paso County and has presided over the 41st District Court since 1988.

Cervantes said his last trial of note was the 2006 trial of Abigail DeLeon, who was convicted of five counts of intoxicated manslaughter in the Dec. 20, 2004, crash that killed JoeRay Gomez, 19; Christopher Reyes, 19; Marco Antonio Ortiz, 19; and Jennifer Chavez, 19, who was pregnant with her second child.

Jurors sentenced DeLeon to two years in prison on one count and two years probation plus a $5,000 fine for each of four counts.

Bramblett presided over DeLeon's trial.

Houston Chronicle: Innocents duped into drug smuggling

An interesting story recently published in the Houston Chronicle covers a case where the circumstances may sound familiar to some El Pasoans.

An indictment was recenlty dropped against Jose Molina, a bus-riding Mexican citizen headed to Houston.

According to the article, in exchange for a free ride on the bus, which was owned by a relative, Molina ushered two saddles and other cargo through U.S. customs. But hidden inside the saddles was $20,000 worth of cocaine.

Out in El Paso, at least five people - all caught under strikingly similar scripts at the same bridge over the Rio Grande during a 15-month period - were arrested, including one convicted by a jury and two who pleaded guilty in deals to face less prison time.

To read the full story, click here.

Villegas' story featured in LA Times

Photo by Rudy Gutierrez / El Paso Times

The Los Angeles Times recently published an article about El Pasoan Daniel Villegas, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1995 for the shooting deaths of Armando "Mando" Lazo and Robert England in Northeast El Paso in 1993.

Villegas was 16 years old when the murders occurred. He's now 34 and claims he was coerced into confessing to the murders by an El Paso police detective. To read the Los Angeles Times story, click here.

The case has attracted attention from local and national media, including the NBC news show "Dateline."

A hearing, presided by Judge Sam Medrano Jr. of the 409th District Court, began in June to determine whether Villegas deserves a new trial. The hearing was postponed after new evidence came to light that may affect the case against Villegas.

The hearing is scheduled to continue on Sept. 6. Steven Drizin, founder of the Northwestern Law Center's Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth is expected to attend portions of the hearing, along with Richard Leo, a false confession expert, from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Mother played "World of Warcraft" while daughter withered away

FROM THE LAS CRUCES SUN-NEWS: A Holloman Air Force Base mother has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for spending hours online, playing World of Warcraft until late in the night as her young daughter "withered away" from malnutrition and dehydration, in the words of federal prosecutors.

Rebecca Colleen Christie, 28, who was convicted of second-degree murder and child abandonment in November 2009, was sentenced May 23 in federal court in Las Cruces. She will be required to serve four years of supervised release after prison.

Christie's ex-husband, U.S. Air Force Sgt. Derek Wulf, who pleaded guilty to child neglect, will be sentenced June 15. He faces up to three years in prison and one year of supervised release.

In a plea agreement, Wulf admitted neglecting his daughter's health and not adequately monitoring her medical and nutritional needs despite knowing that the child had health problems and special nutritional needs.

Their child, 3 1/2-year-old Brandi Wulf, had gained just a pound and a half in the last year of her life and weighed 23 pounds when Christie called 911 to report her daughter was limp and unconscious Jan. 26, 2006.

Derek Wulf had left on temporary military duty nine days earlier, but had expressed reservations about his wife's ability to take care of their child; her older daughter had already been placed with Christie's parents.

Read more here.