To residents of Presidio and Ojinaga, the international border that separated them had always seemed irrelevant. Look, he shot at Baca Magaa with a long, knowing stare, so you wont break your head, you know where this is coming from. The room was dead silent as three people waited for his revelatory words. Tonight he was clad in Wranglers, a short-sleeve Tommy Hilfiger cotton blend, and pointy black cowboy boots. View map of Presidio County Sheriff's Office, and get driving directions from your location. More Law&Crime News: NASCAR star Kyle Busch sentenced to 3 years in Mexican prison for trying to take .380 pistol and hollow point shells on private plane leaving Cancn. That alone, she says, might have mitigated against a life sentence. Sixty-six days after Herreras arrest, his family is fed up. Here, melon pickers and teachers and accountants from both sides of the border mingle. The problem was that it was impossible to determine who his true adversary was. For them, the borders economic lessonseducation is free in the U.S., health care is affordable in Mexicoare more important than the precariousness of traveling between two jurisdictions. Im not getting any type of pressure from anyone. Raising Junies spirits is a family project. Chambers, now 65, was quick to cooperate with federal officials and only served 13 years of a life sentence. We make it a big deal so he can eat, Marta said before the visit. Even before Judge Estrada Rascn made his ruling to bind Herrera for trial on May 4, the states case had fallen apart. The Presidio County Sheriff's Office, located in Marfa, Texas, is a law enforcement agency that promotes public safety in Presidio County through public policing and the management of county jails and inmates. OJINAGA, Mexico Under the international bridge connecting this town to Presidio, Texas, a human smuggling guide snorted cocaine with a buddy and two prostitutes the chosen fruits from leading a large group of Central American immigrants on a long backpacking journey to new American lives. The statement is dated April 28a day before Herreras arrestbut the stamp that reflects the courts receipt of the document reads April 27. Whoever did this doesnt know how much they killed my brothers spirits, Marta said one afternoon. Presidio is a podcast with a planned launch in 2021. Questions about elections: It was yet another layer of silence in the Mexican justice system. The two kept a tight rein on who knew what in their investigation when it became apparent that Sheriff Rick Thompson might be involved with Robert Chambers. You begin to question. When they had heard nothing at four oclock, their hopes began to fade. Chambers was well acquainted with smugglers from Mexico and eventually became close to Pablo Acosta, the drug lord of Ojinaga. He was a favorite child of two nations, though Jesus Manuel Junie Herrera didnt see it that way at all. Find Inmate Records and Warrants related to Presidio County Sheriff's Office. Privacy Policy Best described as a muckraking journalist, McNamara launched a scrappy newspaper, The Nimby News, in Alpine to cover stories often left out of the local newspaper, and later wrote a column for the Big Bend Sentinel in Marfa. In 1992 Presidio County sheriff Rick Thompson was caught with a ton of cocaine. Nerves frayed like an old carpet, Junies mother and sisters decided to wait it out with Herrera, whom the jail guards had allowed to stay in the administrators office. Now 73, he lives in Midland, Texas with his wife, and remains close to his two sons and daughter. Any rational person would not have expected Jurado Contreras to reach a decision within a week, when the process of issuing an appellate ruling normally takes months. But Molinar was too cynicalor perhaps too smartto take one step onto what now seemed uncharted grounds. This isnt coming from here. Starting pay is $16.00 per hour. In Mexico a judges declaration that a person is a probable suspect can be appealed even as the prosecution unfolds. This, said Baca Magaa, ceremoniously holding up a piece of beef he had just sheared off an enormous T-bone steak, is just in case the attorney general decides to throw me in there with El Junie. Then he shamelessly devoured it. Presidio County Underground Water Conservation District, Presidio Co. Facilities Management Policy, Presidio County Employee Email Log-In Page, Far West Texas Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy 2016-2020, Provided by the Texas Association of Counties, Duties & Responsibilities of County Officials. Cook, a native of Alpine, knew the area well and helped manage the surveillance of Chambers and cultivating their informants. Nearby, a deputy sheriff grinned as Herrera drove away and said, Its good to have you back home.. After his death, Chambers briefly served as The Plaza before Amado Carillo Fuentes took control of distribution with the Juarez Cartel. I hand him a bundle of warm food his family had brought in a plastic grocery bag. An old schoolmate of Herreras brother-in-law, he took on Junies case after the family fired its first attorney. Copyright 2021 KOSA. Cook, a U.S. Customs agent, was DEA agent Dale Stinsons partner. And if youre going to get life in prison, you know, most people want to get something for pleading guilty and saving the govt the expense of going to trial. Presidio County Sheriff Secretary Shanna Elmore chimed in to voice her support for a longevity pay system after a brief discussion on whether incentives should be based on cumulative service to the county for employees who leave their positions and come back or consecutive years of service. They crossed it easily, spoke the same language, and considered themselves part of the same community. You have to have courage because I dont want them to see you like this. Presidio County Sheriff Information. But how to forgive and forget? It is known as a leading transshipment point for drugs headed for the United States, and the rugged mountains on both sides of the border serve to shield drug runners. J.NUEZ - 501. The description she gave of the murderershort, dark-skinned, with sideburns and a mustachedid not fit the fair-skinned, six-foot-one Herrera at all. The Presidio County Commissioners court will meet on WEDNESDAY February 23, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at the PRESIDIO COUNTY ANNEX BLDG, 300 NORTH OREILLY . His arrest for cocaine trafficking shocked Marfa and the law enforcement officers he had befriended and worked with for years. Stinson, now 74, lives in Colorado and is writing about his experiences. You do. Sometimes he may even employ a popular Mexican dicho, or saying. He scoffs at everythingthe law, the press, Americans. Mitchell Willetts is a real-time news reporter covering the central U.S. for McClatchy. Look who came to visit, your cousin from El Paso! Marta Brummett tells her younger brother, Junie, as he greets her by the green bars of the Ojinaga state prison doors. You have to have courage because I dont want you getting sick, she says in her raspy voice, making two fists with her hands. PublishedJanuary 14, 2016 at 12:35 PM CST, Bipartisanship at its finest: Texas Senate passes budget with property tax relief, teacher raises, Texas eyes marine desalination, oilfield water reuse to sustain rapid growth, El noticiero semanal: Debate sobre AirBnBs en Marfa, y un controvertido proyecto de ley de seguridad fronteriza, More than 18,000 cows are dead after dairy farm explosion in Texas Panhandle, Border-enforcement bill at Texas Capitol sparks debate over states' rights and 'invasion' rhetoric, Marfas chamber of commerce pushes for new regulations on Airbnbs. It was obvious that the tape was worthless: The cars whizzed by so fast that license plates and drivers were indistinguishable. With so much drug trafficking and death, the attorney general for the state of Chihuahua, which makes up fully one . Despite all these facts, on May 4 Ojinaga judge Ramn Everardo Estrada Rascn declared that Herrera was a probable suspect in the assassination, launching what in Mexico is a lengthy process of collecting evidence for a final judgment. Dryly, they informed him that they had un orden de aprehensin por homicidio and that he was under arrest. Free Junie. Junie Is Innocent. Justice for Junie. People mobilized on both sides of the river to raise money for Herreras legal fund, and when reporters arrived from the Dallas Morning News, the New York Times, and Telemundo, they articulated their rage and posed for cameras with yellow ribbons, T-shirts, and posters. Four days before his death, Ortega had published a front-page story about the governments investigation of a drug-trafficking operation near the states capital. Because of the two towns isolationtwo and a half hours to the nearest Wal-Mart in Fort Stockton or Chihuahua Citythey had come to depend on the border economy. If you have any information on this or any other illegal activity in Presidio County, please contact the Presidio County Sheriff's office at 432-729-4848 or 432-729-4911. Drawer V | Marfa, TX 79843 | (432) 729-4308 | Dial 911 Emergency . In Mexico there are no jury trials. El Fay retracted his previous declaration, confessing that La Tecata had persuaded him to testify and that the two had been paid off by the states investigators. Mobile homes, unpainted cinder-block dwellings, and several dozen handsome brick houses all sit on dirt and rock lanes. Rick Thompson was widely admired by Marfa residents and was a shoe-in for his upcoming election to a fifth term as Presidio County Sheriff. Lucia Herrera said that the family also paid $12,000 to their first attorney and several thousand to a third lawyer who assisted Baca Magaa. We are happy to announce that the podcast is now under development and production with Campside Media and Sony Entertainment. Two days before, Ojinaga police chief Ren Cardona Bejarano had presented jail intake records showing that La Tecata had been imprisoned on February 18 and not released until February 20, a day after she said shed witnessed the journalists murder (later in the trial, three jail employees and a woman who was incarcerated with La Tecata corroborated the jail records). There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. The judge single-handedly directs the collection of evidence, applies the law, and hands down judgments. Cloudflare Ray ID: 7b9d0dfb9d5c7692 I do.. Fully licensed corrections officers receive an automatic raise to $17.00 per hour. Herrera had trouble adjusting to the cold of an air-conditioned home and continued to fidget nervously in his chair. At age 41, it was the younger Herreras first mortgageenough, friends say, to make him tone down the partying. The police swarmed around Herreras 1955 Chevy Bel Air; Herrera, as usual, offered his hand. Presidio sits on the Texas-Mexico border near Big Bend National Park, about 60 miles south of Marfa. It seemed that God had heard Presidios and Ojinagas prayers. Then he added, But theres something there. Culturally they are more like their neighbors than they are different. Tobias Penner Peters and pictures of the plane involved [Images via Presidio County Sheriff's Office] A 46-year-old Texas pilot pleaded guilty late last week to a federal crime in connection with a Dec. 30, 2021, plane crash that exposed his attempted smuggling of five undocumented immigrants. Phone: 432-729-4911. Herreras world is small, tightly circumscribed, and brutally hot. Recently he had reported that the fugitive drug trafficker Joaqun El Chapo Guzmn, allegedly the head of the Sinaloa drug cartel, might be hiding out near Ojinaga. President Fox has pledged to clean up the system, but that job will take decades of work. AN ORDER APPROVING AN ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT FOR BOND COUNSEL LEGAL SERVICES WITH NORTON ROSE FULBRIGHT US LLP; AND OTHER MATTERS IN CONNECTION THEREWITH, Public Hearing on Proposed Presidio County Budget. And Fox cant even touch the state governments. Plopped atop an ice chest, Herrera nods in agreement and says, This is a good place to start.. Matt Naham is the Senior A.M. Editor of Law&Crime. One of the undocumented individuals injured in the crash suffered a back injury, was life-flighted to an El Paso hospital and remains in a wheelchair today, the DOJ noted in a press release. Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. His mother said they incurred between $100,000 and $120,000 in expenses. He lives in a six- by eight-foot cell, into which he has crammed a twin bed given to him by a family friend so that he will not have to sleep on a dingy sponge mattress like the other prisoners. McNamara reported extensively on Sheriff Thompsons role in the multi-county drug task force that spent an enormous amount of money producing minor drug busts. In the predawn hours of Dec. 3, 1991 a few miles from the border town of Presidio, federal agents said that a pickup truck with more than a ton of cocaine had forded the Rio Grande. Then, a month before Herreras arrest, Guadalupe Valenzuela Lozano, a prostitute and drug addict known as La Tecata, declared that she had witnessed Ortega Matas murder from a vacant lot where she had stopped to urinate that cold February night. He now lives in Granbury, Texas. It was a messy job to disentangle their personal loyalties from their newfound distrust of the Mexican government. Every day, the Herreras made pleas to the Chihuahua prosecutors, to the media, to Jesus Christ himself. Because the charges involved murder, Herrera would have to wait behind bars. Then they brought out the handcuffs. Presidio County Sheriff's Deputies responded to an airplane crash North of the Presidio International Airport at approximately 3:51 p.m.. Deputies arrived on scene and assisted the injured passengers where they discovered that the crash was a smuggling attempt gone wrong. Social life and even family life here was profoundly international: Often, ones mother, best friend, or significant other lived on the opposite side of a tollbooth. His grandfather had founded the business in 1929, and when Junie, the third generation, joined his father, Jesus Chuchi Herrera, in management, the local paper commemorated the event with a front-page shot of the two men shaking hands in front of the produce section. 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