By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 8, 1996 - A Rockford, Ill. man rocked in his chair at the
defense table in U.S. District Court this morning as he waited for
Senior Judge Lucius Bunton to tell him he is charged with robbing the
Van Horn State Bank on Monday.
Felix J. Bretz, 37, was constantly jerking, swinging his legs or rocking
back and forth. As he stood at the lectern, he rocked from foot to foot.
Judge Bunton gave the usual magistrate warning that Bretz has the
absolute right to remain silent, but that any statement he gives could
be used against him at trial.
He appointed an El Paso public defender to represent Bretz and set a
preliminary examination for July 11 to determine if evidence is
sufficent to hold him for the grand jury.
"Next time, zip up the tie," Judge Bunton said. "That's awfully
informal."
Bretz apologized as he adjusted the tie borrowed from deputy U.S.
marshals, but there was little he could do about the scruffy beard and
uncombed hair.
"You don't realize how very lucky you are," Judge Bunton said. "Today is
the parade for the Pecos rodeo. These FBI folks came down to see the
parade and just worked it out to bring you for this initial appearance.
I'm sorry I can't let you out now to be in the parade."
Delayed slightly by this morning's rain, the parade passed in front of
the courthouse on Cedar Street shortly after court adjourned.
The Van Horn robbery was the second in two months. Bretz was arrested by
the Culberson County Sheriff's Office about three minutes after
receiving a call from bank personnel. Bretz was caught about half a
block south of the bank.
Chief Deputy Oscar Carrillo said Bretz had hitchhiked from El Paso and
walked into the bank and up to a teller, when he handed the clerk a note
stating that he had a gun and demanded money.
Carrillo said Bretz fled the scene on foot after he was handed 13 $100
bills.
A Wyoming woman, who was also classified as a transient, attempted to
rob the same bank . She was discovered in an abandoned lot within 15
minutes of the robbery by an area U.S. Border Patrol crew.
Lynna Lee Anderson, 45, was indicted last week and pleaded not guilty on
Monday. She allegedly took $1,500.
Vice-President of the 80-year-old bank, Ruben Robledo, said that all
security measures were in place during the first robbery. Robledo added
that he believes Bretz wanted to get caught in order "to get three
square meals."
Located on Interstate 10, less than 50 miles west of the I-10/I-20
split, Carrillo said Van Horn gets its share of transients.
just load the house record up. He got his way, and we got ours."
The question in Congress is whether the annexation of Texas in 1845 was
legal, he said.
McLaren said he has filed notice with the United Nations that the
Republic of Texas is an independent nation, and a "Captured Nations"
celebration is planned for Saturday at the Fort Davis National Historic
Site.
"They signed a treaty in the U.N., and we are a captured nation like
Lithuiania," McLaren said.
Republic "citizens" will also discuss how to keep the movement going
forward, he said.
"Bunton knows what we are doing is legal, but a lot of people don't want
to admit it," McLaren said.
A large contingent of Republic "citizens" filled the courtroom, where
McLaren had called a "Diplomatic Civference of the Transition of the
Nation of Texas."
The first order of business on the agenda was to raise the Republic of
Texas flag to equal height with the United States flag. The second was
to replace braided flags in the courtroom with unbraided flags.
The third was for Judge Bunton to preside. None of those acts came to
pass, and Judge Bunton ordered McLaren not to call any more meetings for
the federal courthouse.
"I am not very emotional, but I get tears in my eyes when we sing "God
Bless America" and "Texas our Texas," he said. "I like the way it is."
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 18, 1996 - Oscar Perez Salinas ducked his head and barely
spoke above a whisper Wednesday as he testified in federal court against
eight of his former cohorts in a reputed marijuana smuggling operation.
The 24-year-old Midland painter said he became involved with the Pablo
Salinas Brito family through the younger brother, Ignacio "Nacho" Brito,
a schoolmate.
"We would get high together, and I would buy sacks (of marijuana) from
him," Salinas said. Eventually, Salinas met Adan Brito, Adrian Brito,
Jesus "Chuy" Brito and Pablo Brito, who is alleged to be the organizer
and leader of the group that allegedly imported tons of marijuana from
Mexico.
Salinas testified that he made several trips to La Linda, Mexico to pick
up marijuana, each time telling Mexican «MDUL»federales«MDNM» at the Rio
Grande crossing that he was going for the Britos.
"What did the federales tell you?" asked Assistant U.S.
Attorney Mark Roomberg.
"They told me to go ahead," Salinas said.
Upon his return, the federales made Salinas open the trunk,
and they looked inside the vehicle, where blocks of marijuana were in
the seat and on the floor.
"They said we were crazy to have it in the seat and on the floor,"
Salinas said. "It was real obvious, they said."
Salinas said he delivered that load to Jesus Brito's house in Midland,
where he smoked some of the marijuana with his brother-in-law, Jesus
Brito and Benjamin Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, the five Brito brothers, Vicente Adame and Richard Lewis
Strack, aka Robert Howard "Doc" Stevenson, are on trial this week before
Senior Judge Lucius Bunton.
After off-loading the marijuana into a little room separate from the
main house, Salinas was paid $4,000, plus two to three pounds of
marijuana to smoke, he testified.
A week later, Adan Brito asked him if he wanted to make another trip,
again for $4,000, Salinas said. But that trip was delayed "until
everything was ready."
"Sometimes federal soldiers were on the Mexican side," Salinas said.
"They had to worry about soldiers like we have to worry about cops."
While he dealt mostly with Adan and Jesus Brito, Salinas said all the
brothers split the dope money evenly. Others said that Pablo Brito was
the organization leader, he said, but he felt all shared the work
equally.
One of the brothers and/or Rodriguez escorted him on the trips, Salinas
said. One would travel about 30 minutes ahead of him to ensure the coast
was clear, and the other would follow until they passed the Border
Patrol checkpoint. Then both escorts would travel in front.
After several successful trips, Salinas enlisted others to make the
trips, and he was paid $1,000 for running escort, he said. On Aug. 16,
1995, the load he was escorting was stopped in Crane and the two men in
the car arrested.
The driver, David Flores Tovar of Plano, testified that he accompanied
Salinas to Fort Worth in July, 1995. On the return trip, Salinas was
holding a brown bag, and after many requests, opened it to show Tovar
money inside.
"He said the money belonged to the Britos," Tovar said.
Tovar said he was promised $1,000 for hauling the load of marijuana for
which he was arrested in Crane. As they crossed the border into Mexico,
they told the federales they were there for the Britos, he
said.
As the 300 pounds of marijuana was being loaded, one of the packages
broke open, and the smell of marijuana inside the car was strong, making
him fear that law enforcement officers stopping the vehicle could smell
it, he said.
When the officer in Crane obtained permission to search the vehicle, a
package fell out as he opened the trunk, Tovar said.
He said he was not paid for the trip.
Tovar and Salinas are among eight of the 20 defendants who entered
guilty pleas and agreed to testify against the others.
Although he signed a plea agreement with the understanding the
government will ask for a reduction in his sentence, Tovar said he would
have testified without that promise.
"It doesn't make any difference to me," he said.
PECOS, July 18, 1996 (AP) - A federal judge has decided not to rule yet
on a request by the Sierra Club for a court order to restrict water
pumping from the Edwards Aquifer.
Instead, Senior U.S. District Judge Lucius Bunton III said Wednesday he
will wait until after the new Edwards Aquifer Authority meets later this
month to consider emergency pumping limits.
Bunton made it clear he believes aquifer pumping does affect the level
of aquifer-fed springs where endangered species live and indicated he
could issue pumping restrictions at a later date.
Another hearing on the matter is set for Aug. 1.
The Sierra Club filed a request in Bunton's court last Thursday seeking
a temporary restraining order limiting aquifer users to no more than 20
percent above their winter daily pumping average.
In June, the Sierra Club filed a class-action lawsuit against all
aquifer pumpers. The action is aimed at municipal and industrial pumpers
as well as military bases that draw on the Edwards Aquifer, a 175-mile
natural underground water reservoir.
Agricultural users were not targeted in the Sierra Club motion.
The Sierra Club contends plunging aquifer levels could wipe out
endangered plant and animal species living in aquifer-fed springs in New
Braunfels and San Marcos.
The San Antonio Water System had argued the state's new Edwards Aquifer
Authority should be permitted to oversee pumping limits.
Russell Johnson, representing the city of San Antonio, said a plan that
Judge Bunton approved last year to curtail pumping from the aquifer is
working. Without rain in the drought-parched south-central Texas area,
the aquifer cannot be recharged, he said.
Steve Allison, representing a manufacturer named in the suit, said the
water is absolutely essential to that business and its employees, and
punishing them would not result in any reasonable impact on spring flows
or endangered species.
Lawyers filled chairs at counsel tables in the courtroom and overflowed
into the jury box. They represent numerous cities, industries and the
U.S. military in the class-action suit.
Arguments began during the noon break in the drug smuggling trial of
eight defendants alleged to be part of the Pablo Salinas Brito
organization.
The San Antonio Water System is asking Judge Bunton to dismiss the
Sierra Club's request for a court order restricting water pumping from
the Edwards Aquifer.
The city water system wants the state's new Edwards Aquifer Authority to
oversee pumping limits.
The Sierra Club filed a request Thursday seeking a temporary restraining
order limiting aquifer users to no more than 20 percent above their
winter daily pumping average.
In June, the Sierra Club filed a class-action lawsuit against all
aquifer pumpers. The action is aimed at municipal and industrial pumpers
as well as Central Texas military bases that draw on the Edwards
Aquifer, a 175-mile natural underground water reservoir.
Agricultural users are not targeted in the Sierra Club motion.
The Sierra Club contends dropping aquifer levels could wipe out
endangered plant and animal species living in aquifer-fed springs in New
Braunfels and San Marcos.
The San Antonio Water System motion claims federal jurisdiction would
disrupt the state's efforts to establish the regional aquifer authority.
``We believe the court should stand back and let this state agency take
over,'' Johnson, general counsel for SAWS, was quoted as saying in
Tuesday's New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.
In other drought matters, officials said the Barton Springs portion of
the Edwards Aquifer continued a steady drop this week that has lasted
more than a year.
``As a result, we continue in a formal drought alarm for northern Hays
and southern Travis counties (in Central Texas),'' said Sue Johnson,
board president of the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation
District.
Also, the Environmental Defense Fund has filed a petition with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its delegation of the
enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act to the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission.
Recent changes in Texas law have resulted in the state's Underground
Injection Control program no longer meeting the minimum standards of the
Safe Drinking Water Act, the Defense Fund contends.
SAN ANTONIO, July 16, 1996 (AP) - The San Antonio Water System is asking
a federal judge to dismiss the Sierra Club's request for a court order
restricting water pumping from the Edwards Aquifer.
The city water system wants the state's new Edwards Aquifer Authority to
oversee pumping limits.
U.S. District Judge Lucius Bunton III has scheduled a hearing Wednesday
in Pecos. The Sierra Club filed a request Thursday seeking a temporary
restraining order limiting aquifer users to no more than 20 percent
above their winter daily pumping average.
In June, the Sierra Club filed a class-action lawsuit against all
aquifer pumpers. The action is aimed at municipal and industrial pumpers
as well as Central Texas military bases that draw on the Edwards
Aquifer, a 175-mile natural underground water reservoir.
Agricultural users are not targeted in the Sierra Club motion.
The Sierra Club contends dropping aquifer levels could wipe out
endangered plant and animal species living in aquifer-fed springs in New
Braunfels and San Marcos.
The San Antonio Water System motion claims federal jurisdiction would
disrupt the state's efforts to establish the regional aquifer authority.
``We believe the court should stand back and let this state agency take
over,'' Russ Johnson, general counsel for SAWS, was quoted as saying in
Tuesday's New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung.
In other drought matters, officials said the Barton Springs portion of
the Edwards Aquifer continued a steady drop this week that has lasted
more than a year.
``As a result, we continue in a formal drought alarm for northern Hays
and southern Travis counties (in Central Texas),'' said Sue Johnson,
board president of the Barton Springs-Edwards Aquifer Conservation
District.
Also, the Environmental Defense Fund has filed a petition with the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency to withdraw its delegation of the
enforcement of the Safe Drinking Water Act to the Texas Natural Resource
Conservation Commission.
Recent changes in Texas law have resulted in the state's Underground
Injection Control program no longer meeting the minimum standards of the
Safe Drinking Water Act, the Defense Fund contends.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 16, 1996 - Jury selection in the federal court criminal
trial of eight members of the alleged Pablo Salinas Brito drug smuggling
ring consumed most of the morning today before Senior Judge Lucius
Bunton.
With 50 government witnesses on the "may testify" list, Judge Bunton
said the prosecution's case may take three days. Defense attorneys may
or may not put on any evidence after the government rests, but
prospective jurors were warned they may have to work through Saturday.
Judge Bunton read the 20-count indictment, which alleges that Pablo
Salinas Brito conducted a continuing criminal enterprise by organizing
and supervising a marijuana smuggling operation over the past year or
more.
While 20 defendants are charged in the indictment, only Pablo Salinas
Brito, Adrian Brito, Jesus Salinas Brito, Adan Brito, Ignacio Berumez
Brito, Richard Lewis Strack, aka Robert Howard "Doc" Stevenson, Vicente
Adame and Benjamin Hernandez Rodriguez are on trial this week.
Along with possession with intent to distribute marijuana, some of the
defendants are also charged with money laundering, purchasing vehicles
to transport marijuana and conspiracy.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 15, 1996 - Eight defendants in a marijuana smuggling case
are set for jury trial in federal court Tuesday before Senior Judge
Lucius D. Bunton.
Charged in the 20-count indictment are Pablo Salinas Brito, Adrian
Brito, Jesus Salinas Brito, Adan Brito, Ignacio Berumez Brito, Richard
Lewis Strack, aka Robert Howard "Doc" Stevenson, Vicente Adame and
Benjamin Hernandez Rodriguez.
Pablo Salinas Brito is charged with engaging in continuing criminal
enterprise by organizing the smugglging operation in which tons of
marijuana were allegedly imported from Mexico and distributed within the
United States.
He and the others are charged with conspiracy to possess and possession
with intent to distribute marijuana on more than one occasion.
Also on Tuesday's agenda is an arraignment and bond hearing for Dean
Allen Phillips and sentencings for Carmina Pando de Madrid and Cleveland
T. Hart at noon.
Judge Bunton set a hearing for Wednesday noon on a Midland-Odessa suit
filed by the Sierra Club against the city of San Antionio, et al.
The Sierra Club seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary
injunction against the defendants in a dispute over pumping from the
Edwards Aquifer. Two attorneys represent the club, and 23 attorneys will
appear for the defendants.
Thursday's docket includes a noon show cause hearing for Richard L.
McLaren, the Republic of Texas ambassador who is on probation in a civil
contempt case.
McLaren's activities since being released from jail on June 7 have
allegedly violated terms of that probation.
Jeffrey Allen Lindsay's motion to suppress evidence in his marijuana
possession case is set for noon Friday. Sib Abraham of El Paso
represents Lindsay.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 15, 1996 - Stewart Platt is the choice of judges for the
Western District of Texas to fill the magistrate judge position for
Pecos and Midland-Odessa divisions.
Senior Judge Lucius Bunton said this morning that Platt could be cleared
by the FBI in about two months and will be moving to one of the three
cities.
"I don't anticipate it will take too long," he said. "He works for the
U.S. attorney's office, and they have to have clearance.
Platt and his wife Carissa were in Pecos last month to meet courthouse
personnel and to tour the city, learning about the school system and
other services.
"I hope he will live in Pecos, and I think he and his wife would fit
real well here," Judge Bunton said.
They have two teenagers and one grade schooler.
Platt said he was impressed by the new federal courthouse and hopes it
can become a focal point to broaden the community's sense of criminal
and civil justice.
"I think we ought to use that facility for some educational programs for
the school system and perhaps even adults," Platt said. "I have worked
on some programs in the past which allow junior and senior high students
to have experiences in the federal judicial system.
"Given the quality of the courthouse facility, I would hope the school
district would be open to some proposals to sponsor programs for the
schools in the facility.
"We need increased confidence in the judicial system in this Republic,
and students need to see and experience the system on earlier occasions
and more favorable times than some will fce them in later life."
Platt was one of five finalists from among numerous candidates for the
$120,000-per-year magistrate position.
He is a native of East Texas and was assistant U.S. attorney in Lufkin
before transferring to Chattanooga, Tenn. where he still works.
Louis Guirola Jr. was the first full-time magistrate judge for the Pecos
Division, taking office Jan. 1, 1993. He resigned earlier this year to
take a similar position in Mississippi.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 26, 1996 - Senior Judge Lucius Bunton has denied a motion to
suppress statements and evidence in the marijuana possession trial of
Jeffrey Allen Lindsay. Trial is set for Aug. 20.
Lindsay was arrested May 5 by U.S. Border Patrol agents after they were
alerted by sensors that a vehicle was traveling north on Green River
Road that runs south from Van Horn to the Mexican border.
When agent Lonnie Hillin met Lindsay's truck, then turned to follow,
Lindsay stopped and walked over to Hillin's patrol unit, the agent
testified in a hearing July 19.
Lindsay said he was on "predator control" in the area.
Hillin said he asked Lindsay for permission to look inside his truck,
where he found bundles of marijuana on the back seat of the four-door
cab and noticed the butt of a rifle between the two front seats.
A search following Lindsay's arrest turned up several more weapons.
Judge Bunton said in his ruling that in certain circumstances a search
may conform with the "reasonableness standard" of the Fourth Amendment
to the U.S. Constitution even without a warrant.
Warrantless searches of automobiles are permitted if the officers have
"probable cause to believe that the vehicle contains contraband or other
evidence of a crime," he said.
The amendment also permits a Border Patrol agent to select a particular
vehicle for a stop only upon reasonable suspicion that the occupants are
engaged in or about to engage in criminal activity.
"This court is satisfied that based on the totality of the circumstances
explained in the findings of fact...leads to the conclusion that Hillin
had enough probable cause to stop the defendant if he had attempted to
do so," Bunton said.
"However, this case does not focus on whether an illegal stop was or was
not made, instead this court must analyze the facts of whether proper
consent was given for the subsequent search of defendant's vehicle which
yielded the large amount of marijuana and weapons.
"Defendant consented to search of his vehicle," Bunton ruled.
"The Court concludes a reasonable person in defendant's boots would have
thought he was giving Hillin the okay to look inside the vehicle,"
Bunton said. "No other conclusion is logical."
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From staff and wire reports
MARFA, July 1996 - Ranchers along the Southwest border with Mexico are
being forced to sell their property to Mexican drug cartels seeking new
routes into the United States, witnesses at a Senate hearing said.
But so far, that has not happened in the Marfa sector, said Richard
Morrissey, sector chief for the U.S. Border Patrol.
Morrissey's sector includes the Big Bend and all the Rio Grande west to
El Paso County.
"I hope we don't have that problem," Morrissey said, although his agents
are alert to any shift in narcotics trafficking.
A Texas rancher, hooded to hide his identity, and border-state senators
told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that ranchers intimidated
by rising violence and crime were selling land to the American fronts of
Mexican drug traffickers.
Ranchers ``have begun selling their ranches to the highest bidders, who
happen to be fronting for the very Mexican drug traffickers who
intimidated the ranchers into abandoning their livelihoods and way of
life,'' said Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
The key witness was a Texas rancher who appeared wearing a black hood
and raincoat and spoke behind a curtain into a microphone that altered
his voice.
Committee chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, commended his courage in
speaking out. ``Numerous Texas ranchers were contacted but have refused
to testify for fear of extreme reprisal by Mexican drug cartels.''
The rancher said that he too has decided to sell the land his family has
lived on for two generations even though he knows the only potential
buyers would be drug-connected.
The border along the Rio Grande River ``has become a Golan Heights, a
no-man's land at night'' with smugglers slashing fences, knocking down
gates and firing rifle shots at his home. ``Some days it looks like an
army has crossed'' the land.
The rancher alleged that drug money had ``gradually destroyed the
community'' by tainting local politicians and law enforcement officers.
The president's drug czar, Barry McCaffrey of the National Drug Control
Policy Office, testified that successes in intercepting drugs at border
cities such as San Diego and El Paso have forced traffickers to look for
weaknesses elsewhere. ``The level of rural violence on the border is
consequently increasing.''
In one New Mexico county, said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., ``drug
smugglers armed with automatic weapons threaten state police flying
helicopters along the border at night.''
Sen. Phil Gramm, R-Texas, spoke of ``running gun battles'' around Eagle
Pass, Texas. ``This is an area where we have lost control of our
borders.''
Gramm said that when he asked an Air Force colonel to house
drug-fighting units on his base near the border, he was told the Air
Force was concerned that flight lines might be attacked by drug groups.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said drug smuggling had become ``our
number one national security problem'' and said she was nearing the
opinion that ``we need to put a military presence on the border to stop
these incursions.''
The military has cooperated in efforts to interdict drugs on the high
seas, but there are constitutional barriers and military resistance to
using military forces for domestic law enforcement purposes.
McCaffrey, responding to Republican criticisms that the Clinton
administration has been weak in fighting illegal drugs, said the Border
Patrol has grown from 4,000 to 5,700 agents in the past five years,
during which time cocaine seizures were up 50 percent and heroin
seizures rose 100 percent.
He said that while corruption in Mexico has impeded drug-fighting
efforts, ``Mexican authorities are determined to root out the endemic
corruption which $30 billion of drug profits has created.''
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July, 1996 - Redoubled efforts by federal and state agencies
working along the Texas-Mexico border to slow the flow of drugs into the
United States bore fruit Saturday with the arrest of a Mexican citizen
and seizure of $730,000 worth of marijuana.
Saul Marin-Morales, 22, of Cuauhtemoc, Chih., Mex., was arrested by U.S.
Customs Service inspectors at the Presidio port of entry. He was charged
before U.S. Magistrate Katherine Baker with possession with intent to
distribute marijuana and ordered held without bail.
Special Agent in Charge George McNenney said agents had developed
information that a 1987 Kenworth tractor trailer would enter the port
carrying drugs. When a vehicle matching that description arrived from
Mexico, they noticed the driver, Marin, was acting nervous.
Customs drug sniffing dog "Jake" searched the truck and alerted to the
tires. One tire was removed from the rig and found to contain marijuana.
The truck was moved to Alpine where Customs agents discovered marijuana
in 16 of the 18 tires. It weighed 730 pounds.
McNenney said the arrest is part of Operation Hard Line, a Customs
Service initiative designed to reduce drug smuggling along the southern
border through mnore intensive and numerous exams of commercial
vehicles, cars and pedestrians.
Tne need for cooperative enforcement efforts along with other subjects
relating to drug interdiction along the southern border were recently
discussed between members of the U.S. Border Patrol Sector Headqwuarters
staff in Marfa, a delegation of Texas Rangers and Department of Public
Safety Officers led by Col. James Wilson, director of the DPS in Austin.
Plans for detailing additional DPS troopers into the area to work with
Border Patrol agents as needed were discussed, said Richard Morrissey,
sector chief.
Other enforcement topics centered around the efforts to halt the flow of
narcotics through this area, through aggressive interdiction of
traffickers.
Cooperative arrangements between the DPS and the USBP will continue to
reflect positively on both agencies and their efforts to bring an end to
narcotic trafficking, Morrissey said.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 22, 1996 - Senior Judge Lucius Bunton said today he will
rule before Tuesday on a motion to suppress evidence and statements made
by Jeff Lindsay in his marijuana possession case.
Lindsay, 37, was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol agents south of Van Horn
on May 5.
His attorney, Sib Abraham of El Paso, asked Judge Bunton following a
hearing on his suppression motion last Friday to allow him four days to
submit a brief.
Judge Bunton said this morning he has not received Abraham's brief, and
he will rule on the motion before Tuesday whether or not he receives it.
In the hearing, Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Hillin said he arrested
Lindsay on Green River Road, a dirt road that runs south from Van Horn
toward the Rio Grande.
Lindsay's pickup truck had tripped a sensor as it traveled north on the
road, Hillin said. After he was notified by another agent at 12:55 a.m.,
Hillin said he started south on the road and met Lindsay about 4.5 miles
south of Van Horn.
As the truck passed him, Hillin noticed it had no
metal registration plate on the rear bumper. He turned to follow the
truck, and Lindsay pulled to the side of the road and stopped about two
miles south of Van Horn.
"He got out and came over. I identified myself as a Border Patrol agent
and asked him if he was from the area," Hillin said. "He said he was
from Pecos. I determined he was a U.S. citizen."
Hillin said he asked Lindsay if anyone else was with him, and he said
no. "I asked if he minded if I checked the vehicle myself. He did not
mind."
Opening the rear door on the four-door pickup, Hillin said he smelled
marijuana and noticed the butt of a rifle sticking up in front of the
seat area.
In the back seat was a block-shaped package underneath a sleeping bag,
Hillin said. "I had already smelled marijuana and wanted to see where it
was coming from...I examined it closer and made up my mind it was
marijuana. I told Lindsay, `You have marijuana in the truck,' and he was
under arrest."
Asked if he had any weapons, Lindsay said he had several, describing
them by type: a Ruger pistol, luger pistol and a rifle.
"I found the others later," Hillin said. "I asked him, `What is going on
here?' He said, `I have a ranch payment I am trying to make.'"
Hillin said he handcuffed Lindsay and had him sit on the truck bumper
until another agent arrived. Then they took Lindsay and his truck to the
Van Horn Border Patrol office.
Questioned by Abraham about the stop, Hillin said he was sure Lindsay's
truck was the same one that tripped the sensor, because there are no
other roads intersecting Green River Road. And local residents normally
do not travel the road that late at night.
When Lindsay came to his patrol car, he was caught off guard, Hillin
said.
"He said he was doing some predator control. I didn't know what that
meant; killing coyotes or what," he said.
Agent William Crowe said he helped Hillin transport Lindsay and the
truck to Van Horn and assisted in searching the truck.
He said they found a Luger 9mm pistol, loaded and in a holster, located
between the two front seats at the driver's right side; a Ruger .22
pistol loaded with six rounds; a Beretta M-14 rifle, loaded and with one
round in the chamber; a scoped Browning 81 .308 caliber rifle, loaded
with a clip and a round in the chamber; a Remington 12-gauge shotgun and
a Mossburg 12-gauge shotgun, both loaded and in the rear seat; and a 9mm
UZI pistol, loaded and in a tool box in the truck bed; and six boxes of
ammunition.
In the rear seat were bundles of marijuana weighing 151 pounds, Crowe
said. In the bed, along with the normal assortment of tools, were animal
traps, and in the cab a sleeping bag and equipment used for camping, two
walkie-talkies, a spotlight modified with duct tape to create a tunnel
lens.
Abraham presented no evidence for the defense, and Judge Bunton
immediately denied the motion to suppress. However Abraham asked him to
reconsider and allow him to submit a brief.
"We have a reasonable suspicion to stop, but we have a search of a
vehicle," Abraham said.
"Have you ever been on Green River Road?" asked Judge Bunton.
Abraham said, "No," and Judge Bunton said, "Maybe that's your problem.
Mr. Lindsay and I have both been down that road. There won't be one car
at 12:55 a.m. on Green River Road more than one night out of 100."
"That's speculation," Abraham said. "We don't know that. We don't have
someone saying, `We saw Lindsay's truck coming from the border.'"
Judge Bunton agreed to allow Abraham four days to submit a brief, but
said this morning he doesn't know when the four days' time began.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - The anti-government group known as the Republic
of Texas is setting its sights on Texas banks, and bankers aren't quite
sure what to make of the development.
In the past year, the secessionist movement has ordered Gov. George W.
Bush to leave office, formed its own ``defense forces'' and asked county
sheriffs to go to work for them.
Now, in an official-looking legal notice mailed to banks across the
state, movement leaders have declared that all Texas banks must apply to
the Republic treasurer within 30 days for bank charters or shut down.
``This fellow appears to be a couple enchiladas short of a combination
plate,'' says John Heasley of Austin, general counsel of the Texas
Bankers Association.
Darrell Dean Franks of Shiner, Republic of Texas treasurer, isn't amused
by jokes about the group, he says.
Republic followers are not cranks, but serious-minded citizens who want
to return power to average people, Franks said.
``They can say anything they want to. Just let them read the law and see
who wins.''
Republic leaders say that they are nonviolent. They say that ``arrest
warrants'' sent to a federal judge and prosecutor recently were the
actions of a president they later impeached.
The movement contends that the 1845 annexation of the Republic of Texas
by the United States was illegal and invalid, that Texas remains an
independent nation and that movement leaders constitute the legitimate
government.
Texas Banking Commissioner Cathy Ghiglieri says the Republic notice to
bankers is no joke.
``This is not something we're taking lightly because of the threats that
have been made against judges and other state officials,'' Ms. Ghiglieri
told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
The recent bank notice angered Jack Bean, chairman of Hurst-based Surety
Bank, which has seven branches, $175 million in assets and 100
employees.
``We turned it over to our attorney,'' Bean said. ``I've come across
nuts before, and they're dangerous.''
Bean said he doubts that his bank will file suit, but he is worried
about Republic of Texas followers who operate a weekly ``common-law
court'' in Arlington.
Filings from Republic followers have clogged courts and played havoc
with personal credit ratings of public officials and law enforcement
officers. The bogus debts have also prompted calls for new laws.
``They've done things to hurt people and ruined people's credit,'' Bean
said. ``I tell you, if you jack around with every bank in the state,
you've got some turmoil. If they can stop the banking process, I don't
know what it would do.''
Ms. Ghiglieri said she is referring complaints to Attorney General Dan
Morales, who has obtained a court order against some Republic members
for filing debt notices at courthouses around the state.
Morales said Republic actions have no legal basis ``except in the
minds'' of followers. He has also told Republic of Texas leaders that
they will be prosecuted if they break state law.
Franks said banks are the ones breaking the law. He said the banking
system is illegal because it is not tied to gold or silver as required
by the U.S founders.
He regularly refers to bankers as ``slavemasters'' and ``banksters.''
``We're just giving them the opportunity for them to come aboard to a
lawful banking system,'' Franks told the Star-Telegram.
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 19, 1996 - Texas Attorney General Dan Morales is in danger
of being charged with genocide before the international court if he
files criminal charges against Republic of Texas citizens, Richard
McLaren told a group of reporters in front of the federal courthouse in
Pecos Thursday.
Morales has ordered the Republic to stop filing bogus liens and other
documents in state courts.
"We are still moving in international channels," McLaren said. "They
can't stop us politically."
His remarks came after a hearing in which Senior Judge Lucius Bunton
ordered McLaren to show cause why he should not be put back in jail for
violating terms of his release on a contempt finding.
McLaren had filed papers in Jeff Davis County after Bunton told him not
to, and threatened the clerk with federal criminal charges, Bunton said.
He also sent Judge Bunton a daily packet of materials pertaining to
Republic of Texas business, including persons renouncing their U.S.
citizenship.
John Fahle, San Antonio attorney representing McLaren, apologized to the
court for his client's actions, and said he was merely trying to obey
Judge Bunton's orders not to file anything except through his court.
When Bunton declined to represent the U.S. government in Republic
matters, McLaren said that freed him to continue in political channels.
He has filed documents with the U.S. Congress claiming the 1845
annexation of Texas was illegal, and the Republic of Texas should be
recognized as an independent nation.
"There's not going to be any transfer of property of the state of Texas
or federal government property to the Republic of Texas," Judge Bunton
said.
"I believe your intentions are good. Some things are not meant to be.
Never are going to be.
"You have done a great deal of study. What you hve done now is involve
me; involved the clerk in Fort Davis. Now you have involved me to extent
where people are sending me their declarations of intent (to renounce
citizenship). I don't want them.
"I feel sorry for people that feel that way," he said. "I am very proud
of the fact I am a U.S. citizen and intend to remain that."
Governments are not perfect,, Judge Bunton admitted, and he said he
can't keep people from protesting that their rights have been abused.
But he said that McLaren should send any papers he feels should be filed
in court to his attorney and let him determine if they should be filed.
"I have no problem with that," McLaren said. "We have an official filing
now before Congress. I may send those petitions to the House Judiciary
Committee.
"I think that would be very interesting," Judge Bunton said. "If you
will do that, I am not going to have any more problems. I just want to
get out of this."
By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer
PECOS, July 18, 1996 - Republic of Texas "ambassador" Richard L. McLaren
appeared jubilant after a hearing before Senior U.S. District Judge
Lucius Bunton III at noon today.
Not only did Judge Bunton refrain from putting McLaren back in jail on a
contempt finding, he declined to serve as the judicial representative
for the United States and the State of Texas in the transition to the
Republic of Texas.
"I think you sought to do me a favor by appointing me chief federal
judge in charge of transition," Judge Bunton said. "I decline the honor.
I don't want to be responsible for getting a legal description for every
piece of federal property in the State of Texas."
By declining and ordering McLaren not to file anything else with his
court, Judge Bunton threw the matter into the political realm, McLaren
said following the hearing.
"Now Congress has certified the question on House records," he said. "So
we'll
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