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| January 28 - February 4, 2010 |
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You are viewing the E-Report for the week starting Jan 28, 2010 
Former CBP Officer Sentenced to More Than 3 Years in Federal Prison
Jose Carmelo Magaña, 46, of Yuma, Arizona, was sentenced last Thursday by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg to 37 months in federal prison, to be followed by a term of three years of supervised release. Magaña was also ordered to pay a $4,000 fine and to forfeit $5,100 to the United States in a companion civil case. Magaña pleaded guilty on October 21, 2009, to charges of Attempting to Bring Illegal Aliens to the United States and Acceptance of a Bribe by a Public Official. "Law enforcement officials must be held to a higher standard of conduct," stated Dennis K. Burke, U. S. Attorney for the District of Arizona. "In the rare and regrettable circumstance where a sworn officer crosses the line into criminal conduct and violates their oath and the public's trust, they will be brought to justice." "This sentencing illustrates that the FBI and its law enforcement partners are committed to combating public corruption," stated Nathan T. Gray, Special Agent In Charge, FBI Phoenix Field Division. "When a public official chooses not to protect our nation's borders and enforce the law it erodes the public's trust. The FBI will continue to seek out those who violate their entrusted positions to serve the American people." As part of his guilty plea, Magaña, a former Officer with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Office of Field Operations, admitted that he participated in an agreement with co-defendants Brenda Covarrubias, Ana Bertha Calderon, Jesus Gastelum-Rodriguez, Guadalupe Milan de Gastelum, and others to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. through the lane Magaña staffed at the San Luis Port of Entry in San Luis, Arizona. Magaña accepted a bribe to allow Gastelum-Rodriguez and Milan de Gastelum to bring a person the defendants believed to be an illegal alien into the United States through his lane without proper inspection on November 13, 2007. Magana further admitted that Covarrubias and Calderon collected smuggling fees and routed a portion of those fees back to him in return for his failure to perform his duties as a Customs and Border Protection officer. Covarrubias, Calderon, Gastelum-Rodriguez and Milan de Gastelum all pleaded guilty to a charge of Conspiracy to Bring Illegal Aliens to the United States in the case. Milan de Gastelum received a sentence of time served on October 29, 2009. Gastelum-Rodriguez received a sentence of time served on December 7, 2009. Both Milan de Gastelum and Gastelum-Rodriguez were detained from the date of their arrests, May 12, 2008, through the time of their respective sentencings. Calderon was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison on November 30, 2009. Covarrubias is scheduled to be sentenced on April 26, 2010. The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The prosecution was handled by Joseph E. Koehler, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix. |
Bill Introduced Requiring Intelligence Officials to be Consulted about Arrested Foreign Terrorists
Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, introduced legislation Thursday requiring U.S. intelligence officials to be consulted following a foreign terrorist's detention by the United States. The legislation is intended to address the handling of the so-called Christmas Day terrorist, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who was charged in civilian criminal court. At a recent Homeland Security Committee meeting, Senator Collins said she learned during her questioning of witnesses that none of the three top U.S. intelligence officials had been consulted before Abdulmutallab was placed into the U.S. civilian court system. That determination was made without their input or knowledge. Senator Collins said the way in which Abdulmutallab was handled "may have prevented the collection of valuable intelligence about future terrorist threats to the United States. Frankly, I was stunned to learn that the decision to place the captured terrorist into the U.S. civilian criminal court system had been made without the input or the knowledge of any of those three top intelligence officials: the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, and the Secretary of Homeland Security. These officials were never consulted by the Department of Justice. The decision was made without them." Joining Senator Collins as co-sponsors on the legislation were Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman (I-Connecticut) and fellow committee members, Senators Robert Bennett (R-Utah) and John Ensign (R-Nevada). Senator Collins said that the decision to place Abdulmutallab in civilian court "likely foreclosed the collection of additional intelligence information. We know that interrogations of terrorists can provide critical intelligence, but our civil justice system, as opposed to military detention, encourages terrorists to ‘lawyer-up' and stop answering questions. Indeed, that was the case here. Abdulmutallab had provided some information to law enforcement officials in the hours immediately after his capture, and we surely would have obtained more if we had treated this foreign terrorist as an enemy belligerent and placed him in the military tribunal system." Collins' bill would require that the nation's senior intelligence officials be consulted before the decision is made to try future foreign terrorists in civilian court. "This bill forces the law enforcement and intelligence community to recognize that preventing the next attack should be their first priority," said Senator Lieberman. "Terrorists like Abdulmutallab are not acting alone and they are not merely criminals - they are enemy combatants fighting for Islamist terrorist organizations - and likely have vital information that will help us in this war." Specifically, the bill would require the Attorney General to consult with the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Secretary of Defense, before initiating a custodial interrogation of foreign terrorists or filing civilian criminal charges against them. If there is a disagreement between the Attorney General and these officials regarding the appropriate approach to the detention and interrogation of the foreign terrorist, then only the President may direct the initiation of the identified civilian law enforcement actions. Collins stresses that the legislation would not deprive the President of any investigative tool, nor would it preclude a decision to charge a foreign terrorist in our military tribunal system or in our civilian criminal justice system. She says it would simply require that the Attorney General coordinate with top intelligence officials before making a decision that could foreclose the collection of additional intelligence information on the suspect. Collins points out that such a consultation requirement is not unprecedented. In espionage cases, Congress has already recognized that when valuable intelligence is at stake, national security should trump decisions based solely on prosecutorial equities. She says this requirement must be extended to the most significant threat facing our nation - terrorism. "I encourage the Senate to quickly act on this important legislation," said Senator Collins. "The changes proposed are modest, but the consequences could be a matter of life and death." |
Border Patrol Arrests “America’s Most Wanted” Murder Suspect
U.S. Border Patrol agents assigned to the Nogales Station apprehended an illegal alien from Mexico last week. When the individual was processed using the Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), records showed that he had an outstanding warrant for homicide. The man was identified as Guzman Badilla-Corona, a wanted fugitive featured on "America's Most Wanted." He was turned over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation to face his charges. "Border Patrol Agents are faced with potentially violent people every day," said Nogales Patrol Agent in Charge Alan F. White. "Agents have no way of knowing the type of people they have arrested until they can run records checks on them. By using technology like IAFIS we can identify those criminal aliens who are suspected of committing crimes in our country, especially high profile ones, such as Badilla-Corona." Border Patrol officials say that IAFIS technology has been a valuable tool in assisting the Border Patrol in identifying criminal aliens. IAFIS is a national fingerprint and criminal history system maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This system provides automated fingerprint search capabilities, electronic image storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and responses around the clock. |
Mexican Cocaine Trafficking Leader Sentenced to 27 Years in Federal Prison
A Mexican cocaine trafficking leader has been sentenced to 27 years in prison. Jesus Manuel Fierro-Mendez, age 47, of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was sentenced earlier this month to 324 months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine. Fierro-Mendez' arrest and prosecution was the result of a year-long investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The cocaine trafficking organization led by Fierro-Mendez operated out of Ciudad Juarez, Mexico between July 20, 2007 and August 29, 2007. Evidence in the DEA investigation revealed that Fierro-Mendez was a high-level operative in the Juarez Cartel. While Fierro-Mendez oversaw the transportation and distribution of cocaine, he also served as a police officer in the Puma unit in Juarez, Mexico. The Puma unit is a counter-narcotics task force operating within the Juarez police force. The investigation revealed that Fierro-Mendez obtained multiple kilogram shipments of cocaine in Ciudad Juarez. He then directed others to transport the cocaine across the border to El Paso, Texas. Truck drivers working for the organization then transported shipments of cocaine from El Paso to Indianapolis. An additional organizational member received the shipments of cocaine in Indianapolis and then directed other members to deliver the cocaine to customers in Indianapolis, Cincinnati, and Akron, Ohio. Between late 2006 and August 29, 2007, Fierro-Mendez' organization transported approximately fifty kilograms (110 pounds) of cocaine per week from Ciudad Juarez to El Paso before arriving in Indianapolis for further domestic distribution. "This investigation ceased the operations of an organization that was responsible for smuggling and distributing 50 kilograms of cocaine per week throughout the mid-west. The Drug Enforcement Administration will continue to focus our resources on sophisticated drug trafficking organizations that oversee, coordinate, and facilitate the transportation and distribution of illegal drugs in our communities," stated Stephen A. Luzinski, the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the DEA's Chicago Field Division, which covers the state of Indiana. According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Bradley A. Blackington, who prosecuted the case for the government, Judge Barker also imposed five years of supervised release following Fierro-Mendez' release from prison. Fierro-Mendez is subject to deportation to Mexico upon completion of his prison sentence. |
ODNI Posthumously Awards 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte National Intelligence Medal for Valor
Air Force 1st Lt. Roslyn L. Schulte was posthumously awarded the National Intelligence Medal for Valor last Friday for her courageous efforts to teach Afghan military officials how to gather and interpret military intelligence. She died last May in Afghanistan when an improvised explosive device struck her vehicle en route to a Bagram Airfield meeting on the very issue that powers the Intelligence Community: sharing intelligence. Director of National Intelligence Dennis C. Blair made the announcement at a quarterly National Intelligence Community Awards Ceremony, where he also recognized 42 other teams and individuals for outstanding accomplishments in the IC. Schulte is the first woman to receive the Medal for Valor, a tribute to heroism in connection with an IC contribution to national security. Among IC awards, the Medal for Valor is second only to the Intelligence Cross. Schulte's parents, Robert and Susie, and her brother, Todd, attended the event on her behalf. In only three months of duty in Afghanistan, Schulte "made a far-reaching impact on how intelligence was taught and shared with the Afghan National Army," said Blair, speaking from the headquarters of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Schulte, he added, was "wise beyond her 25 years, and respected as a leader by all those around her - from general to airman to Afghan tribal leader - regardless of the branch of service, regardless of nationality." A 2006 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy, she was an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations officer assigned to the 613th Air and Space Operations Center at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. She was deployed to Afghanistan in February 2009, serving the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan. In addition to her teaching duties, Schulte was the command's foreign disclosure officer, working to enhance information sharing with Afghan forces. She was often required to travel outside of her main base at Camp Eggers in Kabul, Afghanistan, to more remote parts of the region. She accepted the known risks of traveling across dangerous terrain, intensely focused on the goal of helping the Afghan military to achieve self-sufficiency. In fact, she was the main conduit for sharing intelligence with Afghan military officials. "She wanted to be some place where the action was," Robert Schulte said in an interview after the event. Originally from the St. Louis, Missouri, area, Schulte was the first female graduate of the academy to be killed by an enemy combatant. Anthony Pascuma, chief of foreign disclosure for the U.S. Central Command, nominated her for the medal. "She was very vibrant, happy, gung-ho, mission-focused," he said in a telephone interview from his Tampa, Florida, office. "She was 150 percent committed to the mission...and wanted to do her part to support operations and combat the war on terrorism." She was also concerned about the Afghan people. Schulte spent three hours nearly every day organizing a charity for Afghan refugees. At Camp Pawan, a U.S. training facility in Afghanistan, a building has been named the Schulte School and Clinic in her honor. The ODNI established the Medal for Valor in 2008 to acknowledge the extraordinary and mostly unsung accomplishments of Intelligence Community professionals. |
Ninth Circuit Held That Fourth Amendment Not Violated When Agents Entered Driveway of Home and Attached a Tracking Device to a Car
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held that (1) DEA agents did not violate the defendant's Fourth Amendment rights when agents attached a tracking device to defendant's vehicle that was parked in an open driveway and (2) DEA agents did not conduct an impermissible search of defendant's car by monitoring it with tracking devices. In the Pineda-Moreno case, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) special agent noticed a group of men purchasing a large quantity of fertilizer from a Home Depot in June 2007. The agent recognized the fertilizer as the type frequently used to grow marijuana. The DEA agent followed the men as they left the store and saw them drive away in a silver Jeep. The agent obtained information that Pineda-Moreno, the defendant, and his associates had purchased large quantities of groceries, irrigation equipment, and deer repellant at several stores-even using the silver Jeep on several of these occasions. DEA agents eventually followed these individuals to a trailer home Pineda-Moreno was renting at the time. Agents monitored Pineda-Moreno's Jeep over a four-month period. In order to monitor the Jeep, the agents installed various mobile tracking devises on seven different occasions, each the size of a bar of soap, by attaching the devices to the underside of the car with a magnet during the early morning. The tracking devices recorded and logged the precise movements of the vehicle. The five out of seven times that agents attached the device on the Jeep, it was parked on either a public street or a public parking lot. The other two times that agents had attached the tracking device, the Jeep was parked in Pineda-Moreno's driveway, a few feet from the side of his trailer. On September 2007, information from a tracking device agents had attached to Pineda-Moreno's Jeep alerted them that the vehicle was leaving a suspected marijuana site. Agents followed the Jeep, pulled it over, and smelled the odor of marijuana emanating from a passenger backseat of the vehicle. The agents contacted immigration authorities, who arrested all three individuals in the vehicle for violations of immigration laws. Pineda-Moreno consented to a search of his vehicle and home, whereby agents found two large garbage bags full of marijuana. A grand jury indicted Pineda-Moreno for various marijuana manufacturing charges. At the district court, Pineda-Moreno moved to suppress the evidence obtained from the mobile tracking devices, arguing that agents violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The district court denied Pineda-Moreno's motion and he appealed to the Ninth Circuit. On appeal, Pineda-Moreno argued that by the agents attaching mobile tracking devices to the undercarriage of his Jeep, agents invaded an area in which he possessed a reasonable expectation of privacy, thereby violating his Fourth Amendment rights because the agents attached these devices while his vehicle was parked in his driveway and while parked in public areas. The court considered the driveway and public areas separately. With regard to agents entering Pineda-Moreno's driveway, the Ninth Circuit rejected his argument that the agents violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The Ninth Circuit determined that because the Jeep was parked in Pineda-Moreno's driveway, it was only "a semi-private area." The Ninth Circuit explained that to establish a reasonable expectation of privacy in his driveway, Pineda-Moreno needed to support that expectation with special features of the driveway, such as enclosures, barriers, lack of visibility from the street, which he failed to do. Pineda-Moreno could not show the agents invaded an area in which he possessed a reasonable expectation, regardless of the early morning entry by the agents into his driveway. Further, the Ninth Circuit determined that because the driveway did not possess any "no trespassing" signs, no features to prevent someone standing in the street from seeing the entire driveway, then Pineda-Moreno did not take steps to exclude passersby from his driveway, "he cannot claim a reasonable expectation of privacy in it, regardless of whether a portion of it was located within the curtilage of his home." The court held that the undercarriage of a vehicle, as part of its exterior, is not entitled to a reasonable expectation of privacy. In addition, DEA agents did not conduct an impermissible search of defendant's car by monitoring it with tracking devices. The court found that the only information the agents obtained from the tracking devices was a log of the locations where Pineda-Moreno's car traveled, information that the agents could have obtained by following the car. Thus, the agents conducted no search, and Pineda-Moreno could not assert a Fourth Amendment violation. The case is U.S. v. Pineda-Moreno, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, No. 08-30385. |
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