Blagojevich free on $4,500 bail after arrest
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich appeared in court Tuesday afternoon to hear federal corruption charges against him. He was released on $4,500 bail.
The governor, who appeared in court in a blue jogging suit, also had to forfeit his passport.
FBI agents arrested Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, early Tuesday on federal corruption charges related in part to the selection of President-elect Barack Obama’s successor to the Senate, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald declared Tuesday a “sad day for government.”
“Gov. Blagojevich has taken us to a new low,” he said. “This conduct would make [Abraham] Lincoln roll over in his grave.”
Lincoln was a congressman from Illinois before becoming president.
Fitzgerald said the government had bugged the governor’s campaign office and placed a tap on his home phone.
Each was charged with a count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and a count of solicitation of bribery, authorities said.
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UPDATE – Suit was filed Tuesday
A $7.5 million wrongful death and Civil Rights lawsuit will be filed againstU.S. Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett .
A law firm representing the parents of a Mexican man killed by Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Corbett recently submitted a $7.5 million claim notice, which is a prelude to filing a lawsuit, against him and the government.
Meanwhile, a personal lawsuit against Corbett is expected to be filed separately today in federal court in Tucson.
The federal tort claim, dated Dec. 2, is brought against Corbett for causing wrongful death, and against the Homeland Security Department, Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Justice Department for negligently employing Corbett.
“Agent Corbett, while acting within the course and scope of his agency with the United States Border Patrol, negligently and/or wrongfully shot and killed decedent. At the time of the shooting, decedent showed no resistance to agent Corbett’s demands and was on his knees in a submissive position,” states the document.
The claim seeks a total of $7.5 million, including $2.75 million for the victim’s father Renato Ariza Dominguez, $2.75 million for the victim’s mother Maria Clara Leonor Rivera Cordero, and $2 million for the estate of the deceased.
The document alleges that witness statements as well as the autopsy and ballistic analysis contradict Corbett’s version of the story. It says the death could have been avoided if Corbett was not negligent or did not act wrongfully.
The document also states the government should have known Corbett was involved in numerous incidents of misconduct that made him an inappropriate person to be a Border Patrol agent, such as assaulting a man in Pennsylvania, committing domestic violence and voicing his hatred of Mexicans.The assault and domestic violence claims did not result in convictions.
Corbett went on trial twice this year in federal court in Tucson on criminal charges of negligent homicide, manslaughter and second-degree murder for the death of Dominguez-Rivera, an illegal immigrant, near Naco on Jan. 12, 2007.
Both trials resulted in mistrials due to hung juries. Prosecutors have not officially decided whether or not they will take the case to trial a third time.
During the trials, Corbett claimed he shot Dominguez-Rivera in an act of self-defense to prevent the victim from smashing his head with a rock.
On Monday, Sean Chapman, the lead defense attorney representing Corbett in the criminal case, said “I have no comment” regarding the federal tort claim.
Bud Tuffly, president of the Local 2544 National Border Patrol Council in Tucson, said he could not comment specifically on the document because he has not seen it, but he said the union will continue to support Corbett.
“We will stand behind him 100 percent and we will defend him through this civil action as well,” he said. “We are not going to back down.”
Federal government officials named in the tort claim could not be reached for comment on Monday, including Annmarie Highsmith, associate chief counsel for the Homeland Security Department’s Customs and Border Protection.
On Monday, attorney Federico Castelan Sayre, of the law firm in Santa Ana, Calif., that submitted the federal tort claim, said a lawsuit for negligent hiring and supervision eventually will be filed. For now, the parties involved are given a period of six months in which to respond to the claim, he added.
Also, Sayre said, a civil rights lawsuit will be filed against Corbett today in U.S. District Court in Tucson in a way that allows federal officers to be sued in the same fashion as state officers. He said that filing is “basically receiving the final touches.” Rick Gonzales, a Tuscon attorney, will be the local counsel, with assistance by Sayre.
Sayre, who was born and raised in Tucson and graduated from the University of Arizona, practices law in California. He represented Rodney King against the City of Los Angeles, which resulted in a $3.8 million verdict, and has worked with Gonzales in the past.
Remember OJ Simpson? The burden of proof murder is much less in a civil action than in a criminal trial. Although in the case of this murdering coward, testimony and forensic evidence suggested the lying bastard Corbett was guilty of murdering in cold blood, Javier Francisco Rivera. The breakdown in the system was the jurors in both instances who violated their oath as jurors to look at the evidence with fairness and impartiality. This time, the result will be different. Wonder how Corbett feels now at the prospect of working for the family of the man he murdered for the rest of his life? Oh wait a minute! This coward will probably seek reassignment to Florida or another state where he can protect his assets, just as OJ Simpson did!
Two South Texas Border Patrol agents appeared in federal court Thursday on charges alleging they helped drug traffickers move their product across the U.S.-Mexico border.
A grand jury in Houston returned sealed indictments Dec. 1 against Leonel Morales, 30, of the Border Patrol’s Laredo sector and Salomon Ruiz, 34, of the Rio Grande Valley sector.
Both men made their initial appearances in federal courthouses in McAllen and Laredo on Thursday after the FBI arrested them Wednesday. They will remain in custody until their respective detention hearings next week, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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Seal of the Texas DPS
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – A state trooper has been charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine after police said they saw him accept two suitcases full of the drug in a parking lot.
The U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement that Department of Public Safety Trooper Jesus Rafael Larrazolo, 35, made his first appearance in federal court Monday. DPS spokeswoman Lisa Block said Larrazolo resigned shortly after his arrest Friday.
Brownsville police and agents from the FBI’s Special Investigations Unit saw Larrazolo pull into a Best Buy parking lot next to another vehicle, then take two suitcases from it. Larrazolo was dressed in street clothes, but identified himself as a trooper when police approached. He was carrying a gun.
There were 26 kilograms of cocaine in the suitcases. According to court records, Larrazolo told a Texas Ranger after his arrest that he had been forced by threats to pick up the drugs.
Block said Larrazolo joined the department in October 2002 and was working as a commercial vehicle enforcement officer in Cameron County. The FBI is investigating the case.
It was not immediately clear from court records if Larrazolo had an attorney.
Vice President Dick Cheney indicted in prisoner abuse case
McALLEN, Texas-(AP) A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County’s federal detention centers.
The indictment criticizes Cheney’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees by working through the prison companies.
Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.
Another indictment charges state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. with profiting from his public office by accepting honoraria from prison management companies.
The indictments were first reported by KRGV-TV.
Hearing on Cheney indictment turns chaotic
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A Wal-Mart truck driver will face federal charges for allegedly trying to sneak illegal immigrants into the country in a company tractor-trailer.
A Wal-Mart truck driver will face federal charges for allegedly trying to sneak illegal immigrants into the country in a company tractor-trailer.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested Alejandro Hernandez, 50, after finding four Mexican nationals locked in the back of his 18-wheeler, according to court filings obtained Monday.
Investigators believe Hernandez made at least five similar smuggling trips through the Falfurrias checkpoint in the last year and was working with another known coyote.
“At Wal-Mart we expect our associates to conduct themselves in a lawful and ethical manner,” company spokesman Don Fogleman said. “This situation is of deep concern.”
ICE agents began following Hernandez on Thursday after receiving a tip about his purported illegal activity, according to the criminal complaint filed in his case.
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International truck freight will cross the border in Laredo more efficiently starting Jan. 5 when the World Trade Bridge expands operations to 24 hours a day, five days a week in a six-month U.S.-Mexico pilot test program.
The main beneficiaries will be grocery stores in Texas and Mexico because of more timely deliveries of perishable goods, and factories that operate around the clock and need just-in-time deliveries.
“The benefit will be seen all up and down the supply chain,” said Roger Creery, Laredo Development Foundation executive director.
A formal announcement of the bridge’s expanded hours will be made today at a news conference planned by the city of Laredo Bridge Department at the commercial truck-only bridge. The bridge opened in 2000 at a cost of about $100 million.
The World Trade Bridge now crosses about 4,500 trucks per day northbound and about 4,000 southbound. The bridge, manned by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency and Mexico’s customs service, already handles the most cargo of any U.S.-Mexico crossing.
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Former U.S. Border Patrol Agent Jose Compean embraces his daughter Patricia Compean following a hearing at the U.S. Federal Courthouse in El Paso on Wednesday
A US District Judge today resentenced Former Border Patrol Agent Jose Alonso Compean to 10 years for his conviction of using a weapon in the commission of a felony, plus two years for assault and other charges.
Compean and former agent Ignacio Ramos were convicted in 2006 of shooting admitted drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete Davila and trying to cover it up.
The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out some convictions against Ramos and Compean earlier this year, prompting Wednesday’s resentencing, but the court upheld the majority of the case. Ramos is due to be resentenced Thursday.
Compean’s lawyers said Wednesday they are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case. One of his attorneys, Bob Baskett, didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking details on the review Wednesday.
Supporters, including members of Congress, have asked President Bush to pardon the men or at least commute their sentences.
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