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MONAHANS, Texas (AP) —
Parts of rural West Texas have been shaken by a minor earthquake.
The U.S. Geological Survey says the 3.2 magnitude quake happened at 3:43 p.m. CST Tuesday.
The quake was centered 19 miles south-southwest of Monahans (MAH'-nuh-hanz). The area is about 47 miles southwest of Odessa.
A message left with the Ward County Sheriff's Office in Monahans wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.
McALLEN, Texas –
Two men have been ordered to federal prison following their convictions for conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute cocaine, marijuana and conspiring to launder drug proceeds, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Francisco Javier Gonzalez, 39, of San Juan, and Osmar Alexander Gonzalez, 35, of Houston, entered guilty pleas Jan. 31, 2013, and March 27, 2013, respectively.
Today, U.S. District Judge Randy Crane ordered Francisco Gonzalez to serve 120 months in federal prison, while Osmar Gonzalez received a 144-month term. The prison terms will be immediately followed by a five-year-term of supervised release.
The investigation revealed that during 2010 and 2011, Francisco Gonzalez and others conspired to transport large amounts of marijuana from the Rio Grande Valley to various destinations via tractor-trailers. During the investigation, law enforcement was able to seize several loads of marijuana, including 1,512 kilograms, 980 kilograms and 890 kilograms on May 10, 2010, Oct. 9, 2010, and Jan. 27, 2011, respectively.
The defendants and others also conspired to distribute multi-kilogram quantities of cocaine from the Rio Grande Valley to Houston and elsewhere. Agents seized more than $96,000 on Aug. 25, 2011 - the proceeds of the narcotics distribution.
Both will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation leading to the charges was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Sturgis prosecuted the case.
In San Antonio, federal authorities have arrested two individuals indicted on federal charges in connection with a scheme to provide drivers’ licenses to undocumented aliens announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
A six-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed yesterday, charges 53-year-old Jose A. Ytuarte, a former Texas Department of Public Safety Customer Service Representative in Hondo, TX, and 44-year-old Azeez Mistry of San Antonio with one count of conspiracy to transfer false identification documents, one count of transfer of false identification documents, and four counts of use of an interstate communication facility in aid of unlawful activity. According to the indictment, the defendants conspired from May 2013 to July 2015 to transfer identification documents, namely drivers licenses, knowing that such documents were produced without lawful authority. The indictment alleges that Mistry would direct undocumented and documented aliens who could not get a driver’s license legally to Ytuarte. Mistry would charge between $1,000 and $5,000 for each license and then pay a portion of that fee to Ytuarte as a cash bribe. The indictment further alleges that Ytuarte would input materially fraudulent information, namely that the individual was born in the United States, into the DPS computer system in order to process and issue a driver’s license to each undocumented alien.
Authorities arrested Mistry yesterday; Ytuarte, on Friday. Both have been released on bond pending further court proceedings.
Upon conviction, the defendants face up to 15 years in federal prison.
This case was investigated by the FBI, Texas Rangers and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Assistant United States Attorney Christina Playton is prosecuting this case on behalf of the Government.
An indictment is merely a charge and should not be considered as evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
In San Antonio this afternoon, a federal judge sentenced 39-year-old Carl Wade Bailes to 135 years in federal prison for production, receipt, possession and distribution of child pornography announced United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.
In addition to the prison term, Chief United States District Judge Fred Biery has asked the Government to look into the matter of restitution in this case. During the hearing, Chief Judge Biery stated that Bailes should not retain monies from his military disability or retirement, but that those monies should go to his victims and to possibly cover court costs.
In July, a federal jury convicted Bailes of two counts of production of child pornography, two counts of distribution of child pornography, two counts of possession of child pornography and one count of receipt of child pornography. According to court records and trial testimony, undercover FBI agents in September 2012 discovered numerous files depicting child pornography available for download from a peer-to-peer file sharing program on the Internet. Further investigation identified Bailes as the person responsible for making the child pornography available through the use of his personal computer. On October 22, 2012, FBI agents seized his computer. A subsequent forensics examination of the computer revealed that Bailes had deleted child pornography from his computer including 157 files available for download on September 20, 2012, and 50 files available for download on October 4, 2012. During the investigation, authorities downloaded 31 of those files prior to their deletion. Testimony also revealed that agents were able to recover evidence that Bailes produced images depicting the sexual abuse of two minor females, ages 15 and 6.
“The magnitude of this extraordinary sentence speaks to the depravity of Bailes’ conduct. There is little more that needs to be said about him,” stated United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr.
“The FBI is committed to protecting children in our community, who are among the most vulnerable and precious in our society,” stated Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, FBI San Antonio Division.
This joint investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Thompson prosecuted this case on behalf of the Government.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.
HOUSTON (AP) —
Police are searching for a 23-year-old man who they say shot and killed his girlfriend and her baby daughter in their Houston home.
Authorities said in a statement Monday that Jonathan Figueroa is charged with capital murder in the deaths of 26-year-old Veronica Mercado and her daughter, Linette Cano, who would have turned 2 later this month.
Investigators say they believe Figueroa is heading to the Mexican border in a maroon Ford Taurus.
The two were shot multiple times Friday morning and died at the scene. Mercado was found still holding the child.
Authorities say the home's front door had been forced open.
Police said earlier that they were seeking Mercado's boyfriend and that the two had a history of domestic violence.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) —
Forecasters are warning 63 million people in the central U.S. to have an eye out for bad weather this week as colliding air masses threaten to generate high winds and possibly tornadoes.
The threat Wednesday stretches from San Antonio to Chicago to Cincinnati. Missouri, southern Illinois and northern Arkansas face the greatest severe weather threat.
The Storm Prediction Center said Monday that the storms' severity would be dictated by how much warm, humid air can funnel into the area before a cold front approaches from the west. It was too early to pinpoint where the strongest storms might hit.
November storms aren't unusual, but the nation most often sees its worst storms in the spring. This year, there have been 10 deaths from tornadoes, but none since May.
HOUSTON (AP) —
La policía de Texas está buscando a un hombre de 23 años sospechoso de haber matado a disparos a su novia y su hija pequeña en su casa de Houston. Ambas recibieron varios balazos el viernes por la mañana y murieron en el lugar. Mercado fue encontrada sosteniendo todavía a la niña.
Las autoridades dicen que la puerta principal de la casa fue forzada.
En un comunicado, las autoridades dijeron el lunes que Jonathan Figueroa es acusado de la muerte de Verónica Mercado, de 26 años, y su hija Linette Cano, quien habría cumplido 2 años a finales de este mes.
Los investigadores creen que Figueroa viajaba a la frontera con México en un Ford Taurus marrón.
La policía dijo anteriormente que estaba buscando al novio de Mercado y que la pareja tenía antecedentes de violencia doméstica.
SUGAR LAND, Texas (AP) —
An alligator dubbed Godzilla who tips the scales at more than 800 pounds is being taken to a gator reserve to live out its days, after being found wandering outside a Houston-area shopping center.
Godzilla was discovered Saturday by people arriving for work at the center in Sugar Land. It's believed he wandered over to the plaza from a nearby creek.
Christy Kroboth is licensed by the state as a "nuisance alligator trapper." She was called to help subdue Godzilla and cart him away.
She says once he was muzzled and restrained, a forklift was borrowed from Home Depot to load him onto a truck.
Kroboth says Godzilla is blind in one eye and has only partial sight in the other. He's going to the reserve for his safety.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) —
Authorities in South Texas say a U.S. Border Patrol agent has been charged in connection with the death of a man whose decapitated body was found floating near South Padre Island.
Joel Luna remained jailed without bond Friday after being charged with capital murder, engaging in organized criminal activity and tampering with evidence.
Jail records didn't list an attorney for the 30-year-old Luna.
Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio says the arrest of four individuals after the body was found in March led investigators to Luna, who was arrested Thursday at his home in Hebbronville.
Lucio says authorities found a safe at the home that contained nearly $90,000, around a kilo of cocaine and several handguns.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection says Luna has been placed on administrative leave.
DALLAS (AP) —
Four Texas school districts violated federal law by not properly evaluating students with disabilities before sending them to court for missing school, a state agency's investigation has found.
Under federal law, districts must identify and evaluate all students with disabilities and provide the appropriate educational support to meet the students' individual needs. The Texas Education Agency's investigation looked at specific student cases in the districts.
Among those included was a student in Pasadena with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression who was charged with truancy but never evaluated for special education services. TEA said the "student's chronic absenteeism was a behavioral problem that warranted some type of intervention other than the filing of truancy complaints."
The districts — Houston, Fort Bend, Pasadena and Clear Creek — have a year to complete corrective actions and could face sanctions if they fail to do so. Sanctions could include a number of actions, including an investigation, assignment of a monitor or withholding funds.
Texas lawmakers in June decided to decriminalize truancy, meaning students as of Sept. 1 are no longer sent to criminal court for missing school. The new law also requires districts to try to get to the bottom of why students are missing school before now sending them to civil court. But advocates from the non-profits say they still have concerns, including that judges could still send truant students into GED programs.
The investigation came after three nonprofits filed a complaint in May against 13 Texas districts alleging truancy courts were being used to push students with disabilities out of school, including by being forced into GED programs. TEA decided to investigate only the four districts for which the complaint included specific student examples. One district, Galena Park, wasn't reviewed because it revised its policies.
"Schools do not consider special education interventions around attendance nearly as often as they should," said Dustin Rynders, an attorney for Disability Rights Texas, which filed the complaint along with the National Center for Youth Law and Texas Appleseed.
Rynders said the students cited in the complaint "in one way or another had been forced out of school or were at risk for being forced out of school."
Deborah Fowler, executive director of Texas Appleseed, said they hope the findings will ensure other districts realize they have obligations under federal law before using the truancy process for identified special education students or those whose absences could be related to a disability. She says they'll "monitor the way that all this plays out, particularly since the law has changed so drastically on truancy prosecutions."
The Houston Independent School District said Thursday that it was "taking the necessary steps to address the findings," while Fort Bend Independent School District said they'll work with TEA "to demonstrate our commitment to serving all students." The Clear Creek Independent School District is asking TEA to reconsider its decision.
The Pasadena Independent School District said they've submitted their corrective action plan to TEA, which has accepted it. The district also said the student who was the subject of the allegations is no longer in their district but they've retested the student and are awaiting the results.
The advocacy groups this week released the reports, which don't name the students. TEA declined to release the reports for the four investigations or to comment on them, citing student privacy laws and special education-related confidentiality issues.
TEA declined to investigate districts for which the complaint only provided data on special education students ordered into GED programs which they didn't pass.
