Thread: Columbus N.M. gun-smuggling conspirators face federal judge

Alleged Columbus gun-smuggling conspirators face federal judge

(2:34 p.m.)By Ashley Meeks
Posted: 03/11/2011 02:29:08 PM MST

LAS CRUCES - The Columbus, N.M. police chief, mayor, a village trustee and eight others charged with trafficking firearms to Mexico made their first appearances before U.S. District Judge William Lynch at 11 this morning.

Two Columbus police officers, Robert Valenzuela and Derek Smith, joined nearly 60 family members of the accused who filled the federal court room, occasionally sobbing, comforting each other or clutching their faces in pain as their loved ones filed in, one by one, most in shackles and jail jump suits, to hear the charges against them and the maximum sentences they could face. Mayor Pro Tem Roberto Gutierrez, the father of defendant Blas Gutierrez, sat silently in the second row as he watched the proceedings.

Wearing jeans and a green knit shirt, Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza, who is on dialysis for kidney failure, had to sit down as he heard the charges against him.

Next, Columbus Chief of Police Angelo Vega, 40, who entered the courtroom wearing red plaid flannel pajama-type bottoms and a brown knit shirt, revealed a face contorted with emotion as he left the courtroom, looking toward several family members in the back row, who began to quietly cry. Ian Garland, 50, of Chaparral, N.M., who allegedly sold the guns, was also unable to stand as he heard his charges.

"I'm still light-headed from yesterday, when I collapsed twice," Garland said, citing high-blood pressure measured at the jail. "I'm still light-headed." The 84-count federal indictment against the defendants was unsealed Thursday afternoon after two-county raids that began in the early hours Thursday and involved the execution of 10 search warrants at homes, a business and the Columbus Police Department. Those search warrants remain sealed by the court.

The group, headquartered in Columbus, N.M., has been charged with a conspiracy to smuggle about 200 firearms favored by Mexican cartels - allegedly purchased at Chaparral Guns, owned by defendant Garland - and making false statements to acquire the weapons over 14 months in 2010 and this year. Just 40 weapons were seized by authorities before they made it into Mexico, and 12 others found in Mexico were traced back to the alleged illegal purchases.

One of the defendants, Ignacio "Nachito" Villalobos, 24, charged with two counts of smuggling firearms and one count conspiracy, has not been apprehended and is considered a fugitive.

An indictment is only an accusation. All criminal defendants are entitled to a presumption of innocence until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Possible penalties in the case are hefty: Each count of conspiracy to smuggle firearms and each count of making false statements to acquire the guns carries a possible sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Each count of unlawfully concealing and facilitating the transportation of firearms with the knowledge they would be taken out of the country carries a possible 10-year sentence and a $250,000 fine.

The defendants will return to federal court 9:30 a.m. Tuesday for hearings on whether they will be permitted to be freed on bond.

Ashley Meeks can be reached at (575) 541-5462.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/las_cruces-news/ci_17592915

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