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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Thursday, March 4, 1999
Bunton sentences trio in RCDC escape
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, March 4, 1999 - Three federal inmates who escaped from the Reeves
County Detention Center Nov. 1, 1998 got their sentences extended Wednesday
for one to two years.
Senior Judge Lucius Bunton gave Mariano Flores-Benavides, 25, of Edinburg,
the longest sentence of 24 months on the escape conviction.
Milton Alarcon of Colombia, who celebrated his 40th birthday on Tuesday,
was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Luis Castillo-Rodriguez, 32, a black male from the Dominican Republic
who has no legal address, was sentenced to 12 months for aiding and abetting
escape.
They admitted escaping from the RCDC between 1 and 3 a.m. Nov. 1 by
crawling under or through four fences. Warden Rudy Franco said lax security
in a construction area made the escapes possible.
Alarcon is serving a 45-month federal prison sentence for possession
with intent to distribute cocaine.
Castillo's sentence is 57 months for conspiracy to import marijuana;
Flores is serving a 21-month sentence for re-entry after deportation.
Others sentenced by Judge Bunton on Tuesday for drug convictions are
Juan Jose Padilla-Reyes, 27, of Chihuahua, Mex., eight months; Guadalupe
Ibarra-Sandoval, 30, of Carlsbad, N.M., 30 months; Victor Solis-Torres,
40, of Murillo Ranch, Chih., Mex., 24 months; March Anthony Davis, 25,
of Macon, Ga., 30 months;
Roberto Herrera Jr., 20, of Odessa, 24 months; Marco Octavio Ramirez,
21, of Odessa, 24 months; Mark John Dubray, 40, of Hollywood, Calif., 12
months plus one day and a $1,000 fine; Reyes Reyna Jr., 30, of Oklahoma
City, Okla., 42 months; and Alvin Jay King, 33, no address given, 43 months.
Angel Ramon Arenivas-Saldana, 28, of Mexico City, was sentenced to 24
months for illegal entry after deportation.
Man arrested by officers after Tuesday drug raid
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, March 4, 1990 - Two raids on east side homes conducted Tuesday
by local law enforcement officials resulted in the arrest of one man, and
a continuing investigation into the second incident.
Officers from the Pecos Police Department and the Reeves County Sheriff's
Department executed the first of two narcotics search warrants at 8:31
p.m. on Tuesday, at a residence located at the intersection of Fifth and
Mulberry streets.
Upon securing the subjects inside officers proceeded to search the residence.
"Upon searching Frank Matta Rivera, a syringe was found inside his pants
pockets," said Police Investigator Paul Deishler. "Inside the syringe was
a substance believed to be heroin."
Officers completed their search of the premises and Rivera, 49, was
placed under arrest on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
Charges are pending on the substance located inside the syringe, according
to Deishler.
The second search warrant was executed at 9:12 p.m. on Tuesday at the
home of Teofilo Garcia and family, 1253 Martinez St.
Officers searched the residence and contraband was removed from inside
the residence.
"The investigation into this incident is continuing and charges are
pending," said Deishler.
Pot backpacking case ends in mistrial
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, March 4, 1999 - Federal court jurors were unable to reach a verdict
Wednesday in the trial of four Mexican citizens charged with backpacking
745 pounds of marijuana across the Rio Grande into Texas.
Senior Judge Lucius Bunton released the jury after they reported they
were hopelessly deadlocked, with 10 voting for acquittal and 2 voting "guilty."
He set re-trial for April 5, but advised the prosecutors to reconsider
their case against Jose Arturo Chavez-Martinez, 30, of Porvenir; Jose Alfredo
Soto Navarette, Valentin Debora-Ruiz and Eduardo Berumen-Gonzalez.
Border Patrol agents testified that they caught the four defendants
in the Alamo Arroyo area near Fort Hancock, where they also found 15 duffel
bags filled with marijuana.
In a second trial Wednesday afternoon, the jury found Cliff Rondale
Ellis guilty of possessing 28 pounds of marijuana for distribution. He
is to be sentenced May 10.
The third trial of the week began this morning against three defendants
charged with possession of marijuana.
Border Patrol agents Andrew Graham and Neal Thames testified they found
119.34 pounds of marijuana in a green Thunderbird driven by Ambrocio Gomez
as they conducted a search at the checkpoint south of Alpine on Texas 118.
Co-defendants Hermila Salazar-Benavidez and Jose Angel Mendoza were
occupants of a brown Nissan that entered the checkpoint just ahead of the
Thunderbird.
Agent Frank Lopez testified that his K-9 alerted to the trunk area of
the Nissan, and he found a twig that he believed was marijuana. However,
a field test was negative for marijuana, he said, and he discarded the
twig. A thorough search of the vehicle turned up no hidden compartment
where narcotics could be hidden.
However, documents in the Nissan tied the couple to the occupants of
the Thunderbird. Agents believe it was traveling ahead of the Thunderbird
to warn report whether the checkpoint was open or that agents were patrolling
the area, said Graham.
Modesta Lourdes Martinez, a passenger in the Thunderbird, was also charged,
but her trial was continued to a later date.
J. Miller is prosecuting for the government, and defense lawyers are
Robert Leahy of Odessa, Scott Johnson of Pecos and Gerald Lopez of Odessa.
Obituary
Nicholas Jurado
Services are incomplete for Nicholas "Nick" Jurado, 61, who died Wednesday,
March 2, 1999, at his residence.
Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Weather
PECOS, March 4, 1999 - High Wednesday 76; low last night 35. Tonight, considerable
high cloudiness. Low in the mid 40s. southwest wind 10-20 mph. Friday,
partly cloudy. High in the mid 70s. West wind 10-20 mph becoming northeast
late.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 1999 by Pecos Enterprise
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