Judge: Suspected drug trafficker stays in jail

[Brian503a]

http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/ ... 55,00.html

Judge: Suspected drug trafficker stays in jail
By JAMIE SATTERFIELD, satterfield@knews.com
September 5, 2006


Depending on which side of this courtroom one stands, Juan Limo-Gomez, 27, is believed to be either a hard-working carpenter or a member of a Mexican drug cartel.

On the left side of U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan's courtroom on Friday stood defense attorney Steve Johnson, who insisted that Limo-Gomez was a family man who supported his common-law wife and children with his carpentry skills.

"Prior to his arrest in this case, Mr. Limo-Gomez lived with (his common-law wife) and their four children in a small two-bedroom apartment in Georgia, and he supported the family through his carpentry work," Johnson argued.

On the right stood Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Winck, who countered that Limo-Gomez is a cog in the wheel of a drug cartel.

"The defendant has admitted to a co-conspirator that he works for a cartel and receives 40 kilograms of cocaine and 20 pounds of methamphetamine at a time and once these amounts of drugs were sold, defendant would transport the drug proceeds to Texas, where he would acquire more drugs," Winck contended.

In the middle sat Varlan, whose task Friday was to decide if U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton got it right when he ordered Limo-Gomez jailed pending trial.

Limo-Gomez is charged in a drug trafficking conspiracy indictment along with Roberto Guzman, Armando Gomez Soltero and Mike McCarty. They are accused of pushing more than 12 pounds of cocaine and more than 200 pounds of marijuana.

Limo-Gomez is a citizen of Mexico, so when he was arrested, the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement filed a detainer warrant against him as a first step in determining whether he is an illegal immigrant.

But Johnson argued at Friday's hearing and in court records that ICE officials never acted on the detainer. Although Johnson insists Limo-Gomez twice has entered the U.S. legally through temporary visas, the defense attorney said ICE likely wouldn't kick him out of the country even if he were here illegally.

That's because his common-law wife and children are in the U.S. legally, Johnson said.

"It is the policy of (ICE) not to break apart families when members of that family, especially young children, are U.S. citizens," Johnson argued.

Johnson also contended that proof of Limo-Gomez's link to a drug cartel was sorely limited, especially since the carpenter was so broke he couldn't afford to hire an attorney. Johnson is appointed by the court to handle the case at taxpayer expense.

Winck disagreed.

"As the court knows, a lot of drug defendants come in here and receive appointed attorneys," Winck said. "The fact that this man is indigent doesn't mean he's not a drug dealer.

"We have recorded conversations of him coming (to East Tennessee) to complete drug deals. He wasn't coming up here to do carpentry work."

Varlan noted that Limo-Gomez is facing a minimum mandatory sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Testimony from a co-conspirator linking him to a drug cartel also cannot be ignored, the judge opined.

However, chief among Varlan's concerns was the absence of anything rooting Limo-Gomez to East Tennessee.

"His mother and sister live in Mexico," Varlan said. "His common-law wife and natural children live in Georgia. The court will conclude there are not any reasonable conditions the court can impose" to allow Limo-Gomez to be freed pending trial.

Jamie Satterfield may be reached at 865-342-6308.

[Iig]

If this guy is too poor to pay for an attorney, even though he's a drug dealer, is it because he's incompetent at drug dealing, incompetent at building houses (welcome to the new housing standards) or incompetent at obeying the law?

Yeah, all of the above.