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Thursday, August 15, 1996

Investigator approved for incoming DA

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By PEGGY McCRACKEN
Staff Writer

Randy Reynolds is laying the groundwork for his forthcoming four-year
term as 143rd Judicial District Attorney by lining up an investigator.

Pecos Police Chief Troy Moore has agreed to assign one of his officers
to the district attorney to do follow-up investigation on felony cases.

"I went to each chief and sheriff of each county," said Reynolds, who
is running unopposed in the November general election. "All four said
when I need help to call them and they will have an officer look it up."

But that is the way investigations have been handled in the past, and
"things get lost," Reynolds said.

"I tried to get my budget increased from the counties and cities (to
hire an investigator), but I would have to have insurance and all kinds
of problems. So Troy Moore said he would assign an officer to work under
my direction to assist in cases," he said.

Reynolds said he is not sure whether the investigator could work on
cases outside Reeves County while being paid by the city of Pecos. That
will have to be worked out.

"I don't think he would have a problem working on Reeves County cases.
Reeves County does their part pretty much," he said. "I am conscientious
of taxpayers' money and questions that might arise."

The Pecos Police Department will profit from the arrangement by having
their cases thoroughly prepared for trial and prosecuted, Reynolds said.
And the officer will gain investigative experience that will help the
department.

Reynolds and City Attorney Scott Johnson will choose the investigator
from among applicants within the police department.

The investigator will need to work well with other officers, with
witnesses, lawyers and other agencies, Reynolds said.

Publicity gets prison's pizza plan panned

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HUNTSVILLE, Texas (AP) - Officials say a ``free world pizza night'' at
the Estelle Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice has been
canceled.

Plans were in the works for pizza for inmates to be delivered to the
prison on Aug. 23.

But it was called off after some prison employees anonymously sent the
local news media a copy of the memo authorizing the event. It was signed
by the unit's senior warden, F. Figueroa.

Apparently, officials were arranging for pizza to be delivered to
inmates at other units as well.

Wayne Scott, executive director of the TDCJ, said Wednesday he has
ordered an immediate halt to the practice.

``This is totally inappropriate, and it will not be condoned,'' Scott
said. ``Consider it canceled for that night and forever.

``Inmates have privileges enough and enough to eat without free-world
pizza,'' Scott said in a prepared statement.

It is unclear whether money from inmate trust funds or taxpayer money
was being used to pay for the pizza deliveries.

According to Figueroa's memo, all inmates in medium, minimum and
safekeeping security levels would be eligible to order pizza from a
Huntsville pizza establishment on Aug. 23.

The inmates were given a choice of cheese, pepperoni or hamburger
toppings on their pizza.

Gary Johnson, institutional division director for TDCJ, said he plans to
investigate the matter.

``I'm disturbed that such an idea was even concocted on state time, and
I will put a high priority into seeing how it came about,'' Johnson
said.

An employee at Mr. Gatti's in Huntsville told The Huntsville Item
«MDNM»this was the first time that his business had received such a
delivery request from the Estelle Unit.

But he said that three other prison units in the Huntsville area -
Wynne, Holliday and Eastham - routinely requested this type of service,
sometimes as frequently as every two months.

The employee, who was not identified, said he understood that prison
pizzas were paid for on a charge account, but was unclear about the
specifics.

TDCJ spokesman Larry Fitzgerald said he expected to have more details
today.

``Without further looking into it, I don't see how taxpayer money could
have been used for it,'' Fitzgerald said.

According to the memo authorizing the pizza bash, the inmates had to
have money in their commissary fund in order to order the pizza.

The inmates can establish a trust fund, but they do not have direct
access to actual cash. They can purchase items from the prison
commissary and have the money deducted from their fund.

Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may
not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

PBRPC OKs funds, keeps Crawford in job

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Funding requests received favorable comments by the Permian Basin
Regional Planning Commission during their regular monthly meeting
Wednesday, while the main focus was on the fate of the board's executive
director.

"Both fund requests were given favorable comments," said PBRPC spokesman
Jerry Tschanner.

Greater Opportunities of the Permian Basin Inc. is seeking a $2.94
million grant for 11 Head Start programs in west and central Texas.

"One of the grants is for Midland County Independent School District and
the other is for Ector County and Big Spring," said Tschanner.

Executive director Ernie Crawford explained that the funds the PBRPC is
seeking is also to help economic development in the surrounding
communities.

"They will set up seminars and conferences for the public, to enhance
economic development," he said.

Board members also discussed Crawford and his expense account spending
during an executive session on Wednesday, but took no action against the
longtime PBRPC official after reconvening in open session.

"The board fully supported Crawford, there was no misappropriation of
funds," said Tschanner.

"He didn't do anything illegal and it was not anything against the
policy," said Tschanner.

However, the board did opt to adopt a new policy on expense account
charges, according to Tschanner.

Crawford had recently come under fire following a report in the San
Angelo Standard-Times that he had charged large expenditures to the
PBRPC, including one trip to a topless bars in Austin.

Another report in Sunday's Odessa American questioned other charges,
including a 1993 trip to Portland, Ore., in which a $1,220 bar tab was
charged to the PBRPC. Current Ward County Judge Sam Massey, former
Reeves County Judge Mike Harrison, were on that trip, as were county
judges from Andrews, Dawson, Ector, Howard, Glasscock and Borden
counties and other area office-holders.

Large bond for Pecos man

jailed on traffic violations

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By MARI MALDONADO
Staff Writer

A Pecos man is in jail on a $500,000 bond following his arrest for
traffic violations, while arraignment procedures continued this morning
for his wife after an undetermined amount of cocaine was discovered in
her possession during the Wednesday evening incident.

Hector G. Pando, 24, and Guadalupe A. Sanchez, 26, both of 2301 Sandia
Rd., in the Lindsey Addition, were arrested in the 3000 block of Texas
Highway 17, Balmorhea Highway, after they were pulled over by police
about 8 p.m.

Reporting patrolman, Billy Hull stated that he and Criminal Investigator
Kelly Davis pulled Pando's 1985 Mercury sedan over in the Beer Depot #2
parking lot when they noticed the car bouncing. Hull said he later found
the right tail light was out and the vehicle did not have a tail pipe.

Hull stated that he made the stop to warn the passenger of his
violations.

During questioning, Hull said he discovered that the driver, Pando, was
violating the Driver's License Restriction "A" that required him to wear
corrective lenses. Pando said he had them in his pocket, reported the
patrolman.

Pando, who was on probation on a felony possession of marijuana charge
out of Presidio County, was arrested and charged with violating a
driver's license restriction, having a defective brake light and a
muffler violation.

Municipal Judge Phyllis Salyer set the half-a-million-dollar bond this
morning.

Davis said that Sanchez was seen hiding something in her pants as
officers approached the vehicle. She told police that she was buckling
her seat belt, reported Hull.

Sanchez was searched at the scene of the traffic stop by a matron,
reported Hull. Nothing was discovered on her person at the time.

During an inventory of the vehicle at the city maintenance yard, Hull
was notified that a package of a controlled substance believed to be
cocaine was discovered during a thorough body search of the female
suspect in the jail.

County Narcotics Investigator Clay McKinney took possession of the
substance and filed possession charges, said Hull.

Sanchez faced charges of not wearing a seat belt and possession of a
controlled substance. Her arraignment results were not available before
press time.

Pando is the son of Hector Brito Pando, who is currently being sought by
officials after receiving a probated sentence to drug charges earlier
this year.

Hector Brito Pando, 43, was arrested last November 22 on drug related
charges after a local entry team raided his home and discovered heroin
and cocaine in the residence. He was given 10 years probation with
deferred adjudication in 143rd District Court earlier this year.

A warrant seeking the arrest of the elder Pando for probation revocation
is currently held by the Reeves County Sheriffs Office. The arrest order
was issued after his urine specimen tested positive for opiates in
March. Reportedly, the older Pando has left town, leaving his family
behind.

Hector G. Pando was not arrested in the Nov. 22 raid, but it was
revealed during a habeas corpus hearing for his parents in a Ward County
District courtroom last December that he was in possession of a fake
Mexican, identification card, bearing his older brother, Anival's,
personal data, and his picture. District Attorney John Stickels said
those items were in violation of his Presidio County probation
requirements.

Freeport announces merger

with top fertilizer company

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Freeport-McMoRan Inc. announced a merger on Monday with Ar¬ cadian
Corportation, a leading fertilizer producer, in a move James R. Moffett,
Freeport-McMoRan's board chairman, said will create a unique platform to
participate in the world's expanding needs for fer¬ tilizer.

Freeport-McMoRan operates Freeport Sulphur Co., the former Pennzoil
Sulphur mine in Culberson county, 40 miles northwest of Pecos.

The companies have signed a non-binding letter of intent to combine
their businesses into a newly formed corporation with an aggregate
market value of $3 billion.

"The combination of Freeport-McMoRan and Arcadian Corporation would
create an enterprise with over $2 billion in estimated consolidated
annual revenues, over $500 million of estimated consolidated annual
operating cash flow and a very strong capital structure, which would be
an industry leader in its current operations and aggressive
participant in worldwide agricultural mineral opportunities," Moffett
said.

Arcadian board chairman William A. McMinn said the proposed transaction
would combine leading participants in two of the three ma¬ jor
fertilizer nutrients.

Obituary

Eunice Hamilton

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Eunice Hamilton, 91, died Wednesday, Aug. 14 in Midland.
Services are set for Saturday, at 3 p.m. at the Pecos Funeral Home
Chapel with burial at Fairview Cemetery.
She was born July 7, 1905 in Callahan County, was a Baptist and a
homemaker.
She was preceded in death by her husband James Hamilton in 1966.
Survivors include one son, James "Ham" Hamilton of Pecos; seven
daughters, Louise White of Monahans, Lucile Tilley of Christoval, Jo
Pattillo of Pecos, Doris Kitlinger, Wanda Hayes, Dolores Walker and
Evelyn Hamilton of Midland; 24 grandchildren; 44 great-grandchildren and
13 great-great grandchildren.
Pecos Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Weather

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High Wednesday 98, low last night 67. Tonight, fair. Low 65-70.
Southeast wind 5-15 mph. Friday, mostly sunny. High 95-100. Southeast
wind 10-20 mph.
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Copyright 1996 by Pecos Enterprise
Division of Buckner News Alliance, Inc.
324 S. Cedar St., Pecos, TX 79772
Phone 915-445-5475, FAX 915-445-4321
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