Thread: Officials: Easy money fosters border corruption

http://www.wfaa.com/sharedcontent/dws/n ... 58f06.html

LAREDO – The living room in this humble four-bedroom home serves as a shrine to a beloved son, a soldier awarded a Purple Heart for his heroic service in Iraq. Now the family of Sgt. Julio Cesar Pacheco is grappling with questions about his dedication to duty and country.

Sgt. Pacheco, 25, and Pfc. José Rodrigo Torres, 26, both of Laredo, and Sgt. Clarence Hodge Jr., 36, of Fort Worth, all face charges of transporting illegal immigrants while on duty. They are being detained in Laredo in lieu of $75,000 bail each. Each could face a sentence of 10 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000.

As they await a grand jury hearing July 5, the Texas guardsmen are hardly alone in facing allegations of misdeeds on the border. In recent years, a rising number of soldiers and local, state and federal agents have been arrested and jailed, charged with corruption. The inspector general's office of the Homeland Security Department reported recently that 282 employees of Customs and Border Protection stationed on the Southwest border have been investigated for corruption since fiscal year 2004. And 52 of those cases were investigated already this year, compared with 66 in all of 2006.

Along the 2,000-mile U.S.-Mexico divide, the lure of easy money presents an increasing temptation for American men and women in uniform, officials say. Authorities and experts say the border breeds corruption as smugglers use bribes to prey on U.S. law enforcement agents.

"The border, on one hand, is a barrier and, on the other hand, a site of opportunity," said Howard Campbell, a border expert at the University of Texas at El Paso. "The existence of a border between two countries of unequal economic levels actually creates fertile conditions for corruption. No oath of office could prevent such corruption from occurring."


Recent cases

U.S. law enforcement officials insist their agencies are mostly free of corruption.

"The vast majority of agents are, by far, honest and dedicated to their country," said Border Patrol agent Hilario Leal in Del Rio. "We do have a few bad apples, and, unfortunately, their actions give the rest of the agency a black eye."

Recent examples attest to the problem:

•In Laredo, former Border Patrol agent William Ferrone, 42, was sentenced to 16 months in prison after pleading guilty to transporting 11 illegal immigrants in his vehicle last year.

•In 2006, an FBI sting known as Operation Lively Green netted more than 50 police officers, federal agents, prison guards and soldiers who pleaded guilty or were convicted of receiving cash bribes from undercover FBI special agents posing as narcotics traffickers.

The four-year operation found that some of the defendants, in uniform and carrying official identification, protected cocaine shipments as they drove in government vehicles – including Humvees – past checkpoints operated by the U.S. Border Patrol and law enforcement in Arizona and Nevada.

•Also a year ago, four U.S soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army's 204th Military Intelligence Battalion in Fort Bliss, Texas, taking part in the Bush administration's Plan Colombia mission to combat drug traffickers, were charged with possession and distribution of cocaine.

Over a two-year period, officials said, the soldiers purchased cocaine in Colombia and then used military aircraft to fly shipments of more than 200 pounds into El Paso's Biggs Army Airfield. The cocaine was then sold in Texas and Louisiana.

Staff Sgt. Daniel Rosas, 24, the son of poor migrant workers in McAllen, Texas, was among the four convicted in that case and faces 23 years in prison. In an interview, Mr. Rosas' attorney, Christopher Russell, said, "Sergeant Rosas was convicted of wrongful distribution of cocaine mainly on his confessions."

Mr. Russell added that the "U.S. government bears some responsibility for putting a young, naive soldier in such a position of trust and responsibility without the proper checks and balances. ... Rosas did not have the training and experience for the position he was given."


Impoverished area

The border, U.S. officials and border experts say, breeds corruption in an impoverished region where many young men and women grow up dreaming of putting on uniforms as a way to serve their country and improve their lives.

As the border tightens, human and drug smugglers are trying to bypass increasingly tough security measures by bribing U.S. law enforcement agents. Like never before, when it comes to corruption, law enforcement officials on both sides of the border say, it takes two to tango.

"Corruption has been with us a long time, and it is a social ill that the FBI will continue to address," said Erik Vasys, FBI spokesman in the agency's San Antonio office. "We know that the drug cartels and human smugglers will always target people in positions of authority in order to further their trafficking network. This can't happen without corruption on both sides. It just can't happen. But the one constant in all of this is that the more you play that game, the greater the chances of being sent to prison."

Mexican authorities agree and say the blame should be shared.

"Corruption is a serious problem for both countries," Deputy Attorney General of Mexico José Luis Santiago Vasconcelos said in a recent interview. "That's the only way these criminal organizations are able to thrive and profit. But blaming Mexico, or the United States, isn't the answer. This is about sharing responsibility."


The mission

Sgt. Pacheco and his fellow Texas guardsmen were assigned to Operation Jumpstart, a Bush administration initiative launched last July that deployed 6,000 National Guard troops along the Southwest border to support Border Patrol agents.

The three were arrested early this month after federal authorities stopped Pfc. Torres and found 24 illegal immigrants in a National Guard-leased van he was driving near Cotulla, about 68 miles north of the border. According to the court complaint, cellphone text messages among the men implicated them in a smuggling operation.

Sgt. Pacheco is accused of recruiting Pfc. Torres and Pfc. Hodge to transport the migrants for $1,000 to $3,500 a trip – a charge his family vehemently disputes.

"He's gone from an American hero to an American criminal," said Julio's brother Benito Pacheco, 35. "That couldn't be further from the truth. My brother is still our hero, no matter what the media and government want to label him. He's innocent. Period."

A 2000 graduate of Nixon High School in Laredo, Julio Pacheco jumped at the chance of helping the Border Patrol, his family said. He had already served four years in Germany, Kosovo and Iraq, where he was seriously wounded.

He had returned home a changed man, they said. Once the family comedian, he now looked people in the eye and seemed dead serious. He had goals, including becoming a Border Patrol agent. During celebrations for Washington's birthday, a revered event in the Laredo-Nuevo Laredo region, he was presented the Purple Heart.


Postwar difficulties

But Sgt. Pacheco also showed troubling signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Sometimes he couldn't sleep at night. And he refused to enter his parents' bedroom, where an American flag with the signatures of 46 of his buddies who served in Iraq hangs on the wall. Of that roster, only four, including Sgt. Pacheco, made it home alive.

In spite of his personal demons, family members said, there were no ominous signs of what was to come. Sure, he worried about his family's welfare, but he always had. The Pachecos are a tight-knit family of six brothers and two sisters. They all pitch in to help make ends meet.

"We didn't grow up with a lot of material things," said sister Luisa, 31, who returned from working at a bank in Dallas to be close to her family. "We grew up wearing K-Mart clothes."

Their father, who had heart surgery this month, is a recovering alcoholic. He promised his son he'd stop drinking when he left for Iraq, and he did.

"My son is a good, good-hearted young man who loves his country and family, and we're all very proud of him," said José, the family patriarch, who served in the Army in the 1960s.

Once back home, Sgt. Pacheco moved on with his life. He married, and he and his wife recently had a baby girl. He played flag football on a team led by his brother Benito. He even recruited Pfc. Hodge to play alongside him.

But his family is once again being tested. As they did when he left for Iraq, the family holds 'round-the-clock vigil in the cramped living room filled with photos of Julio. The 24-hour cable news channel is on all the time. The tension grows.

"The black cloud over our home won't go away," said Benito, a contract laborer.

"When my son was in Iraq, we'd all gather here, watching the news, dreading that a military car would pull up with bad news. We didn't sleep or eat. We just waited," said José.

"Now we're all waiting again, broken up, but united in our support for our brother," said Luisa, as she and her brothers and mother, Oralia, stared at the floor and listened to the pouring rain outside.

Nadys: Can you 'downsize' the size of the window of this article for easier reading.. ?

..and/or can someone PM me as to how to 'downsize' even my own reply?

Thanks.. it would sure help... Rob