Sheriff: Deputy prosecuted by Mexico's demand
February 22, 2007 By Jerome R. Corsi © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
Investigators had no plans to bring charges against Texas Sheriff's
Deputy Gilmer Hernandez until the Mexican government intervened and
demanded it, the officer's supervisor told WND.
Sheriff Don Letsinger of Rocksprings, Texas, said the Texas Rangers
were not going to recommend prosecution, but federal law enforcement
took over the case in response to the Mexican government's
intervention.
Also, in the high-profile case of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose
Compean, the Department of Homeland Security investigation was opened
March 4, 2005, the same date the Mexican Consulate demanded
prosecution for the shooting of drug smuggler Osvaldo Aldrete-Davila,
according to numerous agency investigative reports authored by Special
Agent Christopher Sanchez.
WND can find no documentation of any Border Patrol investigation
launched against Ramos or Compean prior to that date.
In both trials, WND has uncovered indications the prosecutor, U.S.
Attorney Johnny Sutton, withheld key, possibly exculpatory,
information from the defense and the juries.
Hernandez stopped a van full of illegals for running a stop sign April
14, 2005, in Rocksprings. The driver attempted to run over Hernandez,
prompting the officer to fire his weapon at the rear tires. A bullet
fragment hit a Mexican woman in the mouth, cutting her lip and
breaking two teeth. Hernandez, convicted of felony civil rights
violations, is incarcerated in Del Rio, Texas, awaiting sentencing.
"Deputy Hernandez had a right to stop that vehicle," Letsinger told
WND. "Can you look at what happened and say that Deputy Hernandez
intentionally wanted to injure someone in that vehicle? You cannot.
Deputy Hernandez did not want to injure anyone that day. He fired at
the tires to stop the vehicle and he was justified in doing so."
In early 2006, Letsinger suspected the FBI was conducting a criminal
investigation against Hernandez in Edwards County when he was notified
by the Little Miracle Child's Care in Rocksprings that two FBI agents
and a Texas Ranger had come to the child care center and interviewed
Ashley, Hernandez's wife, for several hours without any advance
warning.
"Ashley became very upset by the FBI visit," Letsinger said, "and so
did the director of the child care center."
Up to that point, Hernandez had continued to perform his normal law
enforcement duties under the direction of Letsinger.
WND has established the timeline in the Hernandez case:
April 14, 2005 – the shooting incident involving the van of speeding
illegal immigrants in Rocksprings, Texas.
April 18, 2005 – as previously reported by WND, the Mexican Consulate
in Eagle Pass, Texas, writes Letsinger demanding the incident not go
unpunished.
April 20, 2005 – the Mexican consulate in Eagle Pass writes Norman
Townsend of the FBI in Laredo, Texas, a similar letter demanding
punishment in the incident.
April 29, 2005 – Letsinger advises Texas Ranger agent Robert Smith
that state and local law enforcement have been removed from the
Hernandez investigation and the FBI and the federal government were
taking over.
Early 2006 – FBI interviews Ashley Hernandez at the Little Miracle
Child's Care.
June 7, 2006 – Gilmer Hernandez is indicted under 18 U.S.C. section
242 for violating the civil rights of illegal alien Maricela Rodriguez
Garcia and prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton begins.
Letsinger insisted nothing would have happened without Mexico's
intervention. [This sounds like State or Homeland Security, both
are in the presidents chain of command, it all comes down to Bush
doing nothing to jerk some sense into his subordinates].
"Without a letter from the Mexican consulate," he told WND, "I do not
believe federal authorities would have gotten involved in the case."
He was equally firm, after reading the investigative report, that the
Texas Ranger probe against Hernandez would not have resulted in a
grand jury indictment.
Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, told WND it appears the Mexican government was
"the driving force in the Hernandez case.
"The Mexican government wanted a Texas deputy sheriff prosecuted and
they got their way," he said.
Poe expressed confidence in the report by Texas Ranger Bobby Smith not
recommending prosecution.
"In my 30 years experience in law enforcement, the Texas Rangers have
as good a reputation as Scotland Yard, precisely because the Texas
Rangers don't play favorites with anybody," he said. "Whatever the
Texas Rangers recommends is, in my experience, always the way justice
truly prevails in the case." Poe was adamant that the Hernandez
prosecution was unwarranted.
"In this case, it comes across that the Mexican government arrogantly
demanded prosecution and our federal government succumbed to the
pressure," he said. "Unfortunately, the rest is history."
Letsinger contended that if the federal grand jury had heard "the
whole truth of what transpired," Hernandez would [not] have been indicted.
"The statements by the prosecution that Gilmer Hernandez had chased
the illegals across a pasture, cursing them and shooting at them were
completely false," he said. "The Texas Ranger and a federal ATF
(Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) agent and an ATF dog were taken to
that location. That dog searched that location thoroughly and could
find no shell casings. When the dog failed to find the shell casings,
the officers used a metal detector to search the field thoroughly and
[again]
failed to find any shell casings."
Letsinger added he has no way of knowing for sure what the federal
grand jury was told or was not told.
He suspects "the grand jury was told about shell casings, but most
probably not about the law enforcement search that failed to find shell casings."
Hernandez is under the custody of U.S. Marshals in at the Val Verde
County detention facility in Del Rio.
Hernandez is scheduled to be
sentenced on March 12, the day President Bush is scheduled to be in
Mexico meeting with Mexican President Calderon.
Ramos and Compean are also in federal prison, serving 11 and 12 year
sentences respectively. They are preparing appeals but have been
denied freedom on bond.
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