Thread: After extradition, more could come in slain ICE agent case

After extradition, more could come in slain ICE agent case

themonitor.com
by Jared Taylor, The Monitor
December 21, 2011 10:38 PM


A soldier escorts Julian Zapata Espinosa, aka "El Piolin", alleged member of the Los Zetas drug cartel and main suspect in the killing of U.S. Immigration and Customs, ICE, agent Jaime Zapata, during a presentation for the media in Mexico City, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2011. Zapata and fellow agent Victor Avila, were attacked Feb. 15 when traveling along a highway in Mexico's San Luis Potosi state. Avila survived the attack. (AP Photo/Miguel Tovar)

The suspected drug cartel leader behind the fatal roadside attack of federal agent and Brownsville native Jaime Zapata appeared in U.S. federal court on Wednesday.

Julian Zapata Espinoza, a member of Los Zetas — one of Mexico’s most brutal drug cartels — entered a plea of not guilty Wednesday in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia. He remains in custody without bond in the case.

Court records show three other Zetas in Mexican custody already are under sealed indictment in U.S. federal court, as well.

Zapata Espinoza faces charges of murder and attempted murder after the Feb. 15 attack along the Pan American Highway outside San Luis Potosi, S.L.P., where a group of Zetas ambushed a Chevrolet suburban driven by Zapata, 32, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement special agent, and wounded his partner, Victor Avila.

A five-count indictment that accuses Zapata Espinoza of the ICE agents’ ambush was unsealed Wednesday.

The attack was the first against U.S. federal agents operating in Mexico in a quarter century.

Short in stature, Zapata Espinoza, known as “El Piolin,” Spanish for Tweety Bird, was captured by Mexican authorities a week after the fatal highway attack.

Zapata Espinoza was believed to be a local Zetas cell leader who ordered the attack on the ICE agents’ vehicle.

The ambush came after two groups of estacas — eight-member armed crews of Zetas — surrounded the agents SUV, which bore diplomatic license plates and forced the vehicle from the road, court records state.

The agents attempted to identify themselves as U.S. diplomats. But the Zetas opened fire through a partially-opened window, ripping off more than 80 rounds before Zapata managed to move the vehicle.

Zapata Espinoza was a member of one of the estacas involved in the attack, court records state.

U.S. authorities brought charges against him April 19 — nearly two months after his arrest. In a motion that kept the case sealed until Wednesday, agents wrote several other members of the hit squad that killed Zapata remained at large in Mexico.

Those arrested have told Mexican authorities the attack on Zapata and Avila was a mistake, apparently confusing the agents’ armored, black Chevrolet Suburban with that of members from a rival drug cartel.

Investigators traced one of the firearms used in the agents’ attack to Otilio Osorio, a resident of a Dallas suburb who pleaded guilty to federal weapons charges in October.

Zapata has been honored as a hero by local, state and federal officials since his murder. The street where Zapata grew up and his parents still live now bears his name.

ICE Director John Morton met with Zapata’s family in July, months after he came for the slain agent’s funeral.

“The extradition and charges filed against Zapata Espinoza is an important step in bringing Jaime and Victor's alleged shooters to justice,” Morton said in a statement.

MORE EXTRADITIONS?

Court records suggest Zapata Espinoza will not be the only Zeta suspect arrested by Mexican authorities who U.S. investigators want to extradite north of the border.

A record filed in June states three other Zetas members have been named in indictments that remained under seal on Wednesday.

Ruben Dario “Catracho” Venegas Rivera, Jose Ismael “El Cacho” Villagram and Francisco Carbajal Flores — all suspected Zeta members detained in Mexico — all face indictment in the U.S., but their cases remain under court seal.

Zapata Espinoza, along with the three other suspects, are named in a filing that includes an affidavit from a federal court reporter who said he mistakenly erased testimony given by a special agent investigating the Zapata murder case. That testimony came at an April 19 grand jury proceeding — the day Zapata Espinoza’s indictment was filed.

An ICE spokesperson had no comment beyond the agency news release announcing Zapata Espinoza’s extradition and indictment.

‘HE CANNOT BE REPLACED’

Almost 35,000 people have been killed since Mexican President Felipe Calderón declared his war against drug cartels five years ago.

One of those slain was Zapata. It’s a fact that his mother, Mary, has lived with the past 10 months. And she will live with it the rest of her life.

Wednesday’s news that the first suspect in Zapata’s murder investigation landed on U.S. soil brought joy to the family, she said.

“My main concern is my son is gone. He cannot be replaced. I cannot push a button and bring him back,” Mary Zapata said in an interview Wednesday with The Brownsville Herald.

Zapata had been in Mexico for only nine days when he was murdered. And despite growing up in Brownsville, he’d only been south of the Rio Grande once before that — a vacation in Cancun, his mother said. She said she wants to ask Zapata Espinoza why he killed her son.

“I want to go see him, I want to go ask him why,” Mary Zapata said. “Usually, when you kill somebody it’s because they are shooting at you. I know my son did not have that heart.”

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Jared Taylor covers courts and general assignments for The Monitor. You can reach him at jtaylor@themonitor.com or (956) 683-4439.

http://www.themonitor.com/articles/j...g-suspect.html

Gun buyer linked to "Fast and Furious" murder pleads guilty



By Kim Skeen and Sharyl Attkisson

• 
  
• U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement agent Jaime Zapata.
  
  
  
  
  
  A Dallas County man linked to the murder of ICE Agent Jaime Zapata has pleaded guilty to weapons violations.
  
  
  Otilio Osorio, 22, of Lancaster, Texas, only pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to three counts of a 21-count indictment against him.
  
  Prosecutors say one of three guns found at the scene in Mexico where Agent Zapata was shot to death on February 15 was traced back to Osorio. Investigators believe he was the straw purchaser of the weapon, bought in Texas four months before the murder. As part of an agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office, Osorio pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make a false statement in firearms records and possessing a weapons with a removed serial number.
  
  Seven other defendants in the case have also entered guilty pleas. The maximum penalty for each count is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing dates have not yet been scheduled.
  
  As reported by CBS News, Congressional Republicans investigating allegations that the Obama administration allowed thousands of weapons to be trafficked into Mexico have asked for more information about the circumstances surrounding Agent Zapata's death.
  
  More coverage:
  Napolitano on ATF Fast and Furious: "We're waiting for the Inspector General"
  DOJ: No 3rd gun in "Fast and Furious" murder
  Issa to press FBI for "gunwalking" info
  Holder subpoenaed for documents in "Gunwalker"
  AG Holder responds to critics on Gunwalker
  
  On Wednesday, Rep. Darrell Issa and Senator Charles Grassley wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, questioning how the government handled the investigation of Otilio, his brother Ranferi Osorio and another defendant Kelvin Leon Morrison.
  
  According to a joint statement from the offices of Rep. Issa and Sen. Grassley, "the three straw purchasers were known to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF, long before one of the guns purchased by the brothers was linked to the murder of Agent Zapata."
  
  Records obtained by CBS News show ATF watched as the Osorio brothers and Morrison transferred weapons to a confidential informant on November 9, 2010, but failed to arrest the men. The agency's report documenting that incident was dated February 25th, the same day the agency traced the Zapata crime scene gun to Otilio.
  
  The Attorney General has denied knowing that gunwalking was part of an ATF operation that allowed weapons to be smuggled into Mexico. The Justice Department Inspector General has launched an investigation.
  
  
  CBS NEWS