Beaner Mayor, Police Chief & Trustee Of Columbus, NM Arrested For Gun Smuggling

Ozzy Bon Halen · May 14, 2012

In one New Mexico town alone, the mayor, police chief and a city trustee were guilty of gun smuggling — and it's probably not an isolated case.

Beanor Govt = Beanor Corruption.

Last year,

black sedans and hatchbacks loaded with federal agents poured into Columbus, a town of 2,000 people, arresting the mayor, the police chief, a city trustee and nine others. They have all pleaded guilty in a gun-smuggling operation that sold about 100 firearms, mostly assault rifles, to Mexican drug cartels.
"It all comes down to taking some

of the lowest-paid public servants and putting them in a position" where salaries can be doubled, said James Phelps, an assistant professor at Angelo State University in San Angelo, Texas. "The likelihood of getting caught is extremely low, and the reward can be very high."

In the Columbus scheme, Espinoza, the mayor for several years, rented an apartment in El Paso, Texas, to store weapons before they were carried or driven across the border, officials said. About 200 were sold, they said, half of them making it to Mexico.

Anderson, his lawyer, said the mayor pocketed $100 for each of the 16 firearms he handled that made it across the Rio Grande. "We're not talking about a lot of money," he acknowledged. "It's nickel-and-dime stuff."

Anderson said the mayor, a Navy veteran and former state park official, had hoped to leave something for his son serving in Afghanistan.

Police Chief Angelo Vega, 41, was one of nine chiefs to serve Columbus in the last eight years. Luna County Sheriff Raymond Cobos said he thought Vega was particularly unlikable because he betrayed the badge.

"This was just out-and-out corruption," Cobos said. "His transactions cost people [in Mexico] their lives. But then, anybody with a complete lack of moral compass, moral direction, will do anything."

Blas Gutierrez, 31, a city trustee, faces up to 10 years in prison. His family and his attorney said his
drug habit
put him in need of ready cash
.
When he was arrested, he had just been reelected to a four-year term in Columbus, and his family was fairly prominent on both sides of the border, running grocery stores, a gas station and a pharmacy.

"He knows he really destroyed his family," said his attorney, Charles McElhinney. "He's got a few young kids, and his wife most likely will be deported back to Mexico."

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-border-corruption-20120513,0,5165934.story

NowhereMan · May 14, 2012

Beaneriffic!

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Beaner Mayor, Police Chief & Trustee Of Columbus, NM Arrested For Gun Smuggling

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