Feds wrapping up NM border gun smuggling case

JERI CLAUSING, Associated Press
Updated 04:45 p.m., Monday, August 22, 2011

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Federal prosecutors are close to wrapping up their case against a group of border town officials accused of helping to smuggle hundreds of guns into Mexico.

A change of plea hearing is scheduled in Las Cruces on Thursday for Columbus police chief Angelo Vega, who faces a felony conspiracy charge. The town's former mayor, a former town trustee and nearly a dozen other people already have pleaded guilty in the case.

If Vega changes his plea to guilty, there will be just two defendants left to resolve their charges, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's office in West Texas, which took over prosecution of the case. One of those is a fugitive who was never arrested. The other, Gabriela Gutierrez, is accused of making false statements, aiding and abetting and conspiracy.

Former Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza was the first to change his plea to guilty last month. Since then, 11 others have followed suit.

Espinoza's attorney, Howard Anderson, said Monday that everyone had been "pretty much lined up" to change their pleas to guilty in the case following their arrest in a federal sting in April. But he said the agreements have all been sealed so it's unclear who might have made deals for leniency.

"It's hard to say," Anderson said. "It's a question of what they could and couldn't prove. ... Obviously some have deals."

A spokesman for Vega's attorney confirmed the hearing was scheduled this week for Vega to change his plea.

Vega faces one count of conspiracy in the case, which could carry a sentence of up to five years. The other two town officials face potentially much longer sentences.

Blas Gutierrez, a 30-year-old former village trustee, faces up to 280 years in prison after pleading guilty to 19 counts of gun smuggling, 17 counts of making false statements in the acquisition of firearms and one count of conspiracy.

Former Mayor Eddie Espinoza, 51, faces 65 years in prison for guilty pleas on one count of conspiracy, three counts of making false statements in the acquisition of firearms and three counts of smuggling firearms.

Sentencing dates have not been set. Anderson said it takes about 75 to 90 days after pleas are entered for presentencing reports to be completed.

Columbus sits just north of Palomas, Mexico, a town that has seen increasing violence as drug cartels wage war against one another, the Mexican Army and police.

The town is in dire financial straits, which current officials blame on the indicted men. Last month, the town's board of trustees shut down Columbus's three-member police department and reduced other employees' hours in an attempt by new Mayor Nicole Lawson to stabilize the budget.

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Feds- ... 135995.php