Thread: Judge could decide fate of American soldier today

Judge could decide fate of American soldier today
By Louie Gilot and Chris Roberts / El Paso Times
Article Launched: 04/26/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT


Spc. Richard Raymond Medina Torres was escorted back to his cell Friday by prison guards at the Cereso prison in Juarez. (Adriane Jaeckle / El Paso Times)

JUAREZ -- He had spent three days in a 6-by-8-foot cell with four other men, sleeping on a concrete bed, praying and waiting, but Spc. Richard Raymond Medina Torres was optimistic Friday that he would soon be back in the United States.
Five days ago, the traveling Fort Hood soldier drove into Mexico with his personal weapons in his car, by mistake, he said.

Possession of guns is illegal in Mexico, and Medina Torres, 25, was detained.

A Mexican federal judge has until mid-day today to decide whether to free Medina Torres or to proceed with a trial.

Medina Torres could face up to 30 years in prison for what he says was a wrong turn.

"They all believe me," Medina Torres said during an interview at the Cereso prison in Juárez. "The U.S. Consulate told me that the prosecutors believe me, but they can't just drop the charges. It's bigger than that now. It has to be a judge."

His Mexican lawyer, David Rey Arceo Maldonado, said he has presented documents to the judge to "corroborate Richard's version" that he was on leave from the military, driving from Fort Hood to his mother's home in Fresno, Calif., when he made the fateful decision to stop in El Paso.

Among the documentary evidence is a dinner reservation he had made for his mother's birthday at an upscale seafood restaurant in Fresno.

The reservation was for Thursday evening, an evening the young soldier spent at the Cereso.

"We can celebrate afterwards," said Gloria Medina, the soldier's mother, who was interviewed by phone from her Fresno home.
She spoke with her son briefly in the past few days and said, "He sounded OK, not the greatest like he normally does." She said he was relying on his faith to get him through.

Medina Torres, an Iraq war veteran, also gave Mexican authorities an Army letter welcoming him to his next assignment as a helicopter crew chief in Honduras.

At the Cereso, Medina Torres remains in a temporary holding cell.

The problem?

A large tattoo of an Aztec sun calendar on his back.

Medina Torres said he had the artwork penned to honor his heritage, but at the Cereso, Aztec-themed tattoos are the signature of members of the Aztecas prison gang, said Cereso spokesman Mauricio Rodriguez.

Violent fights between the gang and its rival, the Mexicles, have plagued the overcrowded prison for years.

Medina Torres said he didn't know the infamous reputation of the prison, just as he did not know about Juárez's violent reputation or Mexico's gun laws. He doesn't even speak Spanish, he said.

Monday, Medina Torres asked an El Paso gas-station clerk directions to go have breakfast in Mexico.

The plan, he said, was to park his white Honda Prelude somewhere safe on the U.S. side and walk to Juárez.

The clerk advised him to look for parking attendants waving little red flags near the Paso del Norte Bridge, Medina Torres said.

The soldier was looking for red flags but he was at the wrong bridge, the Bridge of the Americas.

There were no flags, and by the time he realized something was wrong, he was on the Mexican side of the bridge.

Medina Torres said he asked a Mexican Customs officer how to turn around and was about to when he was stopped by Mexican federal police.

He said they asked him whether he had weapons, and he told the truth. He carried a semiautomatic AR-15 rifle and a .45-caliber handgun, which he uses on target ranges, he said.

These days in his cell, Medina Torres has a lot of time to reflect on his disastrous first trip to Mexico.

"I could have filled up with gas and just kept on driving," he said. "I just wish they would make it harder to get into Mexico, like they make it hard to get into America."

Friday, Medina Torres seemed anxious to put it all behind him.

If he is freed today, he said, "I'll get back across that border 'cause I'm not looking back. I'll find a place to take a shower and get changed and get out. I may get a few speeding tickets because that's how fast I'm going to drive."


Louie Gilot may be reached at lgilot@elpasotimes.com, 546-6131.

Chris Roberts may be reached at chrisr@elpasotimes.com, 546-6136.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_9060099?s ... ost_viewed

U.S. soldier ordered to stand trial on charges of illegally importing weapons to Mexico

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — A U.S. soldier arrested in Mexico this week has been ordered to stand trial on charges equivalent to smuggling after he was caught entering the country with a pistol, a rifle and ammunition.

Spc. Richard R. Medina Torres, 25, was arrested on Monday and on Saturday a judge ordered him held over for trial on charges including weapons possession.

Medina Torres has said that the case was a misunderstanding, and that he entered Mexico with his personal weapons by mistake after taking a wrong turn on a highway.

Medina Torres said "I just want to go home."

Mexico has strict gun control laws and has suffered rising levels of drug-related violence. Mexican officials say most the weapons used by drug gangs come from the United States.

Ciudad Juarez prison director Salvador Barreno Chavez said Medina Torres will be held in a special protected area of the facility.

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"I could have filled up with gas and just kept on driving," he said. "I just wish they would make it harder to get into Mexico, like they make it hard to get into America."

You're misinformed, it's not hard to get in America.