Thread: U.S. soldier in custody in Juarez; allegedly crossed border

U.S. soldier in custody in Juarez; allegedly crossed border with firearm

Times staff report
Article Launched: 04/21/2008 05:55:26 PM MDT


A U.S. Army soldier is in custody in Juárez this evening after he was allegedly caught crossing the Mexican border with a firearm, military officials confirmed.

Spc. Richard Raymond Medina apparently was on leave driving from Fort Hood to California before beginning a new Army assignment, said Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt.

Medina reportedly took the wrong lane and accidentally entered Mexico. As he tried to turn around, he was stopped by Mexican authorities, Offutt said.

Television news reported that Medina had an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun in his possession.

http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_9005639?source=rss

How did he 'accidently' enter Mexico without going through a checkpoint?

Originally Posted by MyAmerica

How did he 'accidently' enter Mexico without going through a checkpoint?

I agree how can this happen without going through some kind of a checkpoint. This guy should be prosecuted for desertion in my oppinion.

God Bless America!!!!!

U.S. Army soldier jailed after entering Mexico with guns

By Daniel Borunda and Chris Roberts / For the Sun-News
Article Launched: 04/22/2008 06:11:49 AM MDT


Click photo to enlargeRaymond Medina«1»
EL PASO — A U.S. Army soldier could face up to 15 years in a Mexican prison after crossing the border into Juárez -- reportedly by mistake -- with several firearms.

Spc. Richard Raymond Medina apparently was on leave driving from Fort Hood, Texas, to California before beginning a new Army assignment, said Fort Bliss spokeswoman Jean Offutt. Offutt obtained the information from the law enforcement officials at Fort Bliss.

Medina, whose age was not known, reportedly took the wrong lane and accidentally entered Mexico. As he tried to turn around, he was stopped by Mexican authorities, Offutt said.

Channel 9-KTSM (cable Channel 10) reported that Medina had an AR-15 assault rifle and a handgun in his possession when he was arrested by agents with the Mexican attorney general's office. Television showed several clips for the rifle, which had a scope and was in a case, ammunition and a U.S. Army identification card. Medina also was shown in custody.

Offutt said the weapons were Medina's personal firearms and there was no intent to sell the firearms.

It was not known where Medina was taken by Mexican authorities.

U.S. consulate officials in Juárez could not be reached for comment.

The roads leading to Juárez are marked by signs -- showing a gun inside a slashed circle -- warning visitors not to take firearms into Mexico.
In 1998, the Texas Department of Transportation put up the signs warning people not to take firearms or ammunition to Mexico after nearly 20 tourists were arrested on weapons charges in Juárez.

Under Mexican federal law, the possession of a weapon designated for exclusive use by the military (such as an assault rifle) is punishable from four to 15 years in prison. Possession of less-powerful firearms is punishable by two to seven years in prison.

The latest incident comes amid heightened efforts by Mexican federal authorities to stop the battle for Juárez between rival drug cartels that often fight with firearms smuggled from the United States.

"What they (Mexican authorities) are seeing is more and more powerful weapons going into Mexico and what they do is fuel the drugs cartels," said Special Agent Tom Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

ATF agents have been working with Mexican authorities to trace weapons used by drug trafficking gangs supplied by U.S. gun-runners. Firearms sold in Mexico can get four to six times the price they were bought for in the United States.

"Mexico has very strict gun laws, so they (persons caught in Mexico) would be held to those standards," Crowley said.

Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.

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

http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_9012335

U.S. soldier arrested in Juarez talks about what led to arrest

By Chris Roberts and Louie Gilot / For the Sun-News
Article Launched: 04/23/2008 06:12:29 AM MDT

JUAREZ, Mexico - Standing in a nearly empty hallway at the Mexican Attorney General's Office, Spc. Richard Raymond Medina Torres says he wished he was back in Iraq.

Medina Torres is being held in a detention cell at the Juarez office after federal inspectors on the Mexican side of the Bridge of the Americas recovered weapons from his vehicle early Monday morning. He had planned to park his car on the U.S. side and walk into Juarez to have breakfast but got lost, the soldier said in an interview arranged by the Mexican Attorney General's Office late Tuesday.

"I'm still scared," said the Chinook helicopter mechanic who, during a recent 15-month tour in Iraq, ventured outside the relative safety of his forward operating base as part of a "Downed Aircraft Recovery Team." "I still don't know what's going on. I'm just trying to make it home."

The soldier left Fort Hood Sunday evening wearing blue jeans and a polo shirt as he headed to his mother's home in Fresno, Calif., where he was born and raised. He planned to drop off his car and some possessions there before heading to his next assignment as a helicopter crew chief in Honduras.

Monday morning - ignoring a sack of Quaker rice cakes he had in the car - Medina Torres searched for a parking area on the U.S. side a gas station attendant told him about. He became disoriented - missing signs warning travelers not to transport weapons - and only realized he had crossed the border when he saw a sign welcoming him to Mexico, he said.

About 50 feet south of the first Mexican checkpoint as he tried to execute a U-turn, Medina Torres said, federal inspectors stopped him and asked if he had drugs or weapons. He said he showed them his semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, a .45 caliber pistol, numerous rounds of ammunition and some knives. Medina Torres was immediately detained, but Mexican officials said Tuesday night that he had not been charged with a crime.

The soldier said he likes firearms and shoots the weapons at ranges.

"It sucks," Medina Torres said. "It was just an accident."

He is scheduled to see a judge Thursday or Friday, but he may be moved to a federal prison before that.

His mother, Gloria Medina, said Tuesday night that she had been contacted by leaders in her son's Cavalry unit three times and that they were working to have him released before the transfer is made.

"He never intended to drive into Mexico," she said. "He turned out to be a fine young man and he joined the military and he's done a tour in Iraq. ... I'm worried about him and I'm hoping and praying he'll be back soon."

In the meantime, Medina Torres, who doesn't speak Spanish, said he isn't sure what the procedures are or if the attorney appointed to him by Mexican authorities, who doesn't speak English, understands what he is saying. Although he was provided an interpreter Tuesday morning, the communication still has been difficult, he said.

Medina Torres said he is not being abused and that he is receiving meals. Early in his interrogation, he said law enforcement officials didn't appear to believe what he was saying. But, as his detention became public and it became apparent who he was, he said they began to treat him better.

He said he is being held alone in a cell about 5-feet by 10-feet with a shower and toilet. Speaking of a five-minute phone call he had with his mother, his eyes clouded over. "I just told her to leave it up to God and everything will be OK," he said.

The Mexican agents responsible for him expressed sympathy as he spoke to reporters and one put his arm on Medina Torres' shoulder as he led him back to his cell.

Outside the office, in a walled parking lot, sat Medina Torres' white Honda Prelude with evidence seals on the doors and windows. The front was crusted with dead bugs picked up on the trip from Fort Hood. Inside, were a duffle bag with his clothes and shoes, a suitcase, a gas can, a car jack and the bag of Quaker rice cakes.

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

http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_9024994

Mexican Judge Expected To Decide Soldiers Fate

By Ray Ortega

Story Created: Apr 29, 2008 at 9:25 AM MDT

Story Updated: Apr 29, 2008 at 9:25 AM MDT

Tuesday, April 29, 2008 – There is now a political push to get the soldier released, as the danger behind bars is all too apparent. A Mexican judge will soon decide whether Specialist Richard Medina Torres will be set free or stay behind bars at Cereso Prison. Mexican police arrested him on weapons charges at the Cordova Bridge, two weeks ago. Torres is being considered a marked man because he sports the tattoo of an Aztec calendar on his back.


Two California congressmen from Medina’s home district are fighting to secure his release.

http://www.ktsm.com/news/local/18364564.html

As mentioned in the other thread, the Mexican barbarian authorities will jump around in brachiation on some monkey bars for awhile and they will release him or suffer severe consequences.

Lawyer of soldier held in Juárez files appeal
By Stephanie Sanchez / For the Sun-News
Article Launched: 05/13/2008 06:14:37 AM MDT

EL PASO — The case of a U.S. soldier, who says he mistakenly drove into Mexico with personal weapons, is under the review of an appeals defense lawyer, his lawyer said Monday.

Spc. Richard Raymond Medina Torres, 25, has been at the Cereso prison in Juárez for about three weeks. David Rey Arceo Maldonado, his lawyer, said he submitted an appeal late last week and it was being reviewed by the appeals defense lawyer.

Roberto Rivera, the appeals defense lawyer, said he will review the case. The Mexican appellate process generally takes about a month, he said.

On April 21, Medina Torres was traveling from Fort Hood, Texas, to his mother's home in Fresno, Calif. He has said he planned to park his car on the U.S. side and walk into Juárez to have breakfast, but got lost and didn't pay attention to anti-gun law signs along the way.

A Mexican federal judge decided there was cause for a trial because of the semiautomatic AR-15 rifle, a .45-caliber handgun, numerous rounds of ammunition and knives Medina Torres had in his vehicle.

Rivera said Monday he plans to argue Medina Torres did not have the weapons hidden in his vehicle and he informed Mexican border officials of the guns when asked.

When asked how much longer the soldier would remain in Mexican prison, he said "the only one that knows is the judge."
The Mexican consulate has also been inquiring about the case, he said.


Stephanie Sanchez reports for the El Paso Times, a member of the Texas-New Mexico Newspapers Partnership, and may be reached at ssanchez@elpasotimes.com; 546-6137.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_9242938