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Daily Newspaper and Travel Guide
for Pecos Country of West Texas
Top Stories
Friday, August 31, 2001
RCDC guards, inmates indicted on drug, bribe charges
By JON FULBRIGHT
and
ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writers
PECOS, Fri., Aug. 31, 2001 -- A federal grand jury on Thursday indicted two
former guards at the Reeves County Detention Center for allegedly accepting
bribes from inmates to smuggle drugs into the facility.
Four inmates were also indicted along with the guards on charges of offering
bribes and attempting to smuggle cocaine and marijuana into the Pecos prison
facility in early July.
RCDC guards Jerry Hernandez and Pearl Ramos were indicted on separate
charges _ Hernandez for conspiring with inmate Raul Carrillo-Lozano to smuggle
cocaine into the prison and Ramos for conspiring with inmates Frederico Echeverri-Gomez,
Alejandro Rocha-Mendoza and Reinaldo Ramirez-Vangrieken to smuggle a pound
of marijuana into the prison.
Warrants were issued for the arrests of all six and a bond hearing will
be set for a later date before U.S. Magistrate Judge Stuart Platt.
"As far as I'm aware that takes care of all the individuals involved,"
said RCDC Associate Warden Antonio Perez, who said the indictments came as
the result of separate incidents.
Ramos' indictment stated that she was working at the prison under the
authority of Hernandez, and had previously accepted bribes totaling $1,600
to smuggle contraband into the prison. In the latest incident, the grand
jury charged that Carrillo-Lozano, Echeverri-Gomez and Ramirez-Vangrieken
solicited Ramos to smuggle the marijuana into the facility in exchange for
a payment of $500.
Ramirez-Vangrieken and Ramos engaged in a conversation about the plan
on or about June of this year, the indictment said, and the inmate provided
Ramos with a drop location for the marijuana. Ramos then went to that location
on July 2 to drop off the marijuana after it had been brought into the prison.
Ramos, 43, of 2417 S. Eddy St.; Echeverri-Gomez, 38, of Miami, Fla.,
Rocha-Mendoza, 29, of Mexico and Ramirez-Vangrieken, 30, of Mexico all are
charged on Count One of the five-count indictment. The three inmates are
charged in Count Two with offering Ramos the bribe and in Count Four with
attempting to smuggle the marijuana into the facility, while Ramos is charged
in Count Three with accepting the bribe and in Count Five with bringing the
marijuana into the RCDC.
The grand jury also returned a five-count indictment against Hernandez
and Carrillo-Lozano alleging that sometime in June and July of this year
the inmate offered Hernandez $50 to smuggle cocaine into the prison. Count
One of the indictment charges that the two had a conversation in the prison
on or about June 30, after which Hernandez placed a call on July 2 to a person
identified in the indictment only as "Manny" and that he spoke with that
person on July 3 about obtaining the cocaine.
Carrillo-Lozano, 41, of Rio Bravo., Mex., was charged in Count Two of
the indictment with offering the bribe to the RCDC officer, while Hernandez,
27, of 415 S. Oleander St., was charged in Counts Three and Four with agreeing
to accept and accepting the $50 bribe. Count five charges both men with using
a telephone to commit a felony of conspiracy to possess and distribute cocaine.
Perez said that allegations made against the suspects led to an investigation.
"The allegations were investigated and it turned out that the allegations
were true," said Perez.
Office of Inspection employee Ron Holland was in charge of the internal
investigation that led to the dismissal of the two employees involved.
"As far as we know these were the only individuals involved and there
will be no continuing investigation," said Perez.
The indictments come just eight days after two other RCDC guards had their
charges of having sex with prison inmates dismissed by U.S. District Court
Judge Royal Furgeson.
Furgeson's Aug. 22 ruling came following a motion made by the attorneys
of Elsa Levario of 1517 Katherine Street and Helen Stephens of 1744 Washington
Street to have their charges dismissed without prejudice because of a delay
in bringing the case to trial. However, Furgeson said the U.S. Attorney's
Office could re-file the charges against both women in the future. The two
women were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pecos in early May.
Perez said that measures are already implemented that help "weed out"
those employees involved in illegal activities. "That's why these individuals
get caught, because we have measures to make sure these type of incidents
don't happen."
Perez said that 99.9 percent of the employees at the facility are honest,
hard-working, loyal individuals. "This is just something some people do,
illegal activities, but eventually they get caught," he said.
Balmorhea adding events to annual holiday festival
By ROSIE FLORES
Staff Writer
PECOS, Fri., Aug. 31, 2001 -- Balmorhea is definitely the place to be this
weekend with plenty of activities planned for the 26th
Annual Oasis of West Texas Labor Day Weekend Festival.
Festivities are set to begin early Saturday morning when organizers hand
out the meat to competitors of the Frijole Bean and Fajita Cook-off. Prizes
will be awarded to the top finishers in both divisions.
"We'll hand out the meat early about 9 a.m. and announce the winners in
the evening about 5:30 or 6 p.m.," said festival organizer Pat Brijalba,
who added that new things have been added to the yearly event.
"This year we'll have the ranch rodeo on Saturday and team roping on Sunday,"
he said.
Food booths and arts and crafts booths will feature a variety of items.
"We'll have plenty of food booths and different booths selling items to
festival goers," he said.
D.J. Bully Matta will be playing music throughout the day and the "1
st Friday" Trade Days will have an early start in September due to
the festival, and will be held on Saturday, only at the ole' Country Store,
corner store on Main Street.
"We've been having the 1st Friday Trade Days for several months
now, but this time it will be this weekend to coincide with the festival,"
said Brijalba. "It's usually held the first Friday of the month."
The first annual Ranch Rodeo will start at 10 a.m., Saturday, at the Hoffman
Arena.
There will be a 12 team limit and events will include Remuda Roping, Team
Sporting, Team Tying, Calf Branding and Cow Milking.
A free street dance will be held Saturday, from 9 p.m. until 1 a.m., featuring
Cruces Band from Las Cruces, N.M.
A Mariachi concert is scheduled from 6-10 p.m., Sunday, in Downtown Balmorhea.
"This is also something new, because we'll be having events on Sunday
as well," said Brijalba. "We'd like to invite everyone from the surrounding
communities to come join us."
Marfa Lights, Alpine flights among events this weekend
PECOS, Fri., Aug. 31, 2001 -- Area residents will have many events down
in the mountains to choose from this weekend in celebration of Labor Day.
Along with Saturday's Oasis of West Texas Festival in Balmorhea, the 15
th Annual Marfa Lights Festival is set for kick off at 5 p.m., tonight
in front of the newly renovated Presidio County Courthouse in Marfa.
More than 60 vendors will open booths at that time on the Courthouse lawn,
which precedes the Marfa Lights Night Parade that starts at 8 p.m.
Anyone is welcome to join the parade as long as participants and floats
are decorated with lights.
Participants in the parade are asked to gather by the elementary school
half an hour before the parade begins.
Prizes will be awarded for the best parade entries.
The Friday night street dance will begin at 9 p.m. Admission to the dance
and concert, which will feature a band called The Shades is set at $5.
The festivities will pick up again at 10 a.m., on Saturday when the vendor
booths open.
The Marfa Lights Parade will start at 11 a.m., and like the night parade
prizes will be given for the best entries and participants must line up by
the elementary school by 10:30 a.m.
Festivity goers will be able to enjoy many entertainers all afternoon
at the Courthouse stage.
The festival's main event is set to kick off at 7 p.m., when the concert
at Vizcaino Park begins.
The concert will feature Bobby Pulido, Little Joe y La Familia and The
Shades.
Admission is $15 in advance and $20 at the door, which is set to open
at 6 p.m.
The festival will wrap up on Sunday with another round of performers on
the Courthouse Stage starting at 1 p.m. and ending with the Finale Dance,
featuring Trisha Martinez y Ritmo. Admission to the dance is $10.
If the Marfa festivities are not enough, area residents can also attend
the Sixth Annual Big Bend Balloon Bash in Alpine.
Opening ceremonies for the Balloon Bash 2001 will begin at 7 a.m., on
Saturday at the Ramada Inn with the balloon launching at 7:20 a.m.
Balloons will also be launched at 7:20 a.m., on both Sunday and Monday.
A fire glow concert will be held at sundown on Saturday at Jackson Field,
with a $2 cover charge.
At the fire concert the balloon pilots will be lighting up the sky with
their flares, along with a musical accompaniment.
Balloon observers will also have a chance to check out the various food
and vendor booth throughout the festival.
Government, stores stay closed Monday to mark Labor Day
PECOS, Fri., Aug. 31, 2001 -- Many Pecos residents will have a three-day
vacation this weekend with a few businesses closing in celebration of Labor
Day on Monday.
The Lucius Bunton Federal Courthouse as well as the Reeves County Courthouse
will be closed on Monday but will reopen on Tuesday.
Town of Pecos City Hall will be closed, but residents may still drop off
utility payments in the night drop box on the side of the building.
The Post Office window will be closed and there will not be any street
mail deliveries, but people who receive mail at the post office boxes will
get mail on Monday.
Students, teachers and personnel of the Pecos-Barstow-Toyah Independent
School District will get a day vacation. Every campus will be closed on
Monday, but classes will resume on Tuesday.
The KPTX business office will be closed, but Hotline will run as normally
scheduled.
The Pecos Enterprise will also be celebrating the holiday with a day off
on Monday, and will resume regular publication on Tuesday.
"Rush Hour 2" trafficks in both action, comedy
By LEIA HOLLAND
Staff Writer
PECOS, Fri., Aug. 31, 2001 -- Whoever thought of placing a smart-mouthed
comedian and an international martial arts star in the same movie and
allowing them to play off each other must be a millionaire by now.
That is just what has happened when some movie god paired up Jackie Chan
(Rumble in the Bronx-1996) and Chris Tucker (Friday-1998) for
Rush Hour 2.
Both Chan and Tucker appeared in the 1998 hit Rush Hour, which
amused audiences all over the world with their comedic chemistry.
Now the chemistry is back with Rush Hour 2, which is just as funny
and exciting as the first movie.
Who would have thought that these two completely different people would
make such a good pair on screen?
The two men make overcoming cultural and language barriers humorous and
delightful.
Audiences are sure to fall in love with both Chan and Tucker after watching
their latest movie together.
Unlike the first Rush Hour, in which Tucker is not as skilled as a fighter
as Chan is, the second one shows how much Tucker has learned from Chan, and
their teamwork proves to be the destroyer of evil.
Tucker is the kind of man that you would want to know because he has the
ability to make any situation humorous, which can be very charming.
One thing can be said for him though, he sure knows how to be the center
of attention.
Chan is just fun to watch. It is a wonder how he is able to use everything
around him in a fight that a normal person would never think of.
It is amazing that he does all of his own stunts with ease and can make
climbing a building look effortless while Tucker, like most of us, can barely
climb stairs without passing out.
Rush Hour 2 proves to be good entertainment for the whole family
despite its rating.
Adults and children alike are bound to have a good time watching the movie
that leaves you wanting another sequel.
And one of the best parts of the movie is when it ends, because you have
a chance to see hilarious outakes from the making of the film.
Rush Hour 2 is rated PG-13.
Weather
PECOS, Fri., Aug. 31, 2001 -- High Thursday 98. Low this morning 68. Rainfall
last 24 hours at KIUN radio .30 inch. Forecast for tonight: Partly
cloudy with a 20 percent chance of showers or thunderstorms. Low 65
to 70. East wind 5 to 15 mph. Saturday: Partly cloudy. High near 90.
East wind 5 to 15 mph. Saturday night: Partly cloudy. Low 65 to 70.
Sunday and Monday: Partly cloudy. Lows from the mid 60s to the lower
70s. Highs in the 90s.
Pecos Enterprise
York M. "Smokey" Briggs, Publisher
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
e-mail news@pecos.net
Associated Press text, photo, graphic, audio and/or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium.
Copyright 2000 by Pecos Enterprise
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