Crime Correspondent: Dallas

Alfredo Lira Jr.23-year-old of Dallas pleaded guilty Tuesday in Tyler to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Alfredo Lira Jr.23-year-old of Dallas pleaded guilty Tuesday in Tyler to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Alfredo Lira Jr.23-year-old of Dallas pleaded guilty Tuesday in Tyler to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. Prosecuto...

Jose Carlos "Charlie" Hinojosa, 31, of Roma - who now faces multiple counts of conspiracy, drug smuggling and money laundering in the ongoing case.

Sheriff Reymundo "Rey" Guerra has not been named in the 17-count indictment against more than 10 men and women accused of working with the Gulf Cartel.But a case file partially unsealed last week lists the warrant used to search his office among others described as "related" to the smuggling investigation.Federal authorities would not confirm Thursday whether the sheriff is expected to face any criminal charges in connection with the case or whether he is suspected of any wrongdoing at all.Guerra declined to comment when reached by phone Thursday afternoon.Agents executed a sealed search warrant on Guerra's Rio Grande City office on Sept. 4, taking boxes filled with documents, electronic equipment and photos.Investigators also seized a "gold-colored badge" from a safe under the sheriff's desk and an evidence bag filled with "a green leafy substance" from a drawer in the office, according to the federal receipt drawn up after the seizure.Two days earlier, authorities targeted a residence belonging to Jose Carlos "Charlie" Hinojosa, 31, of Roma - who now faces multiple counts of conspiracy, drug smuggling and money laundering in the ongoing case.Federal prosecutors allege Hinojosa and more than nine associates smuggled more than 2 tons of marijuana and 1,200 pounds of cocaine into the United States. Then, they reportedly helped move nearly half a million dollars in proceeds from narcotics sales back south across the border.Agents took several documents, stacks of cash wrapped in cellophane and magazines of ammunition during their search of Hinojosa's home, court documents state.He was arrested the same day as part of a nationwide sweep of men and women suspected of working with the Gulf Cartel, a Mexican drug trafficking organization that controls smuggling routes from Nuevo Laredo in the west to Matamoros in the east. U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said during a news conference last week that 175 cartel members and associates - including Hinojosa and his alleged accomplices - had supplied drug markets in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, New York and even Italy.The 15-month investigation - dubbed "Project Reckoning" - involves several separate cases in federal courts across the country. But nearly all feature links to the Rio Grande Valley because of its status as the Gulf Cartel's primary smuggling corridor, federal investigators said Thursday. In all, more than 23 Valley residents have been indicted nationwide and several more people are expected to come under prosecutorial scrutiny as the names of several yet unnamed defendants are released.But it remains unclear whether Sheriff Guerra will be one of them.As Starr County's top law enforcement official, he polices a region with one of the highest rates of drug trafficking in the country.He succeeded Eugenio "Gene" Falcon as sheriff in 1998, after Falcon was charged with accepting bribes from a bail bondsman.

Jose Carlos "Charlie" Hinojosa, 31, of Roma - who now faces multiple counts of conspiracy, drug smuggling and money laundering in the ongoing case.

Sheriff Reymundo "Rey" Guerra has not been named in the 17-count indictment against more than 10 men and women accused of working ...

Jesús Navarro Montes

Mexican federal police announced the arrest of Jesús Navarro Montes, 22, in Sonora state in connection with the killing of Agent Aguilar. He was being held in Mexicali on Mexican charges of human smuggling. Acting on Mexican President Felipe Calderón's vow to hit the cartels hard, heavily armed federal agents on Tuesday encircled police stations in Juárez, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros to relieve police officers of duty, disarm them and search for evidence that may link them to drug traffickers. A day earlier, Mexican federal authorities announced the capture of Alfredo Beltrán Leyva in Culiacán. He is purportedly a major operator in the Sinaloa cartel. Border law enforcement officers, while watchful of the rising violence on the Mexican side, say that so far it hasn't shifted directly onto the U.S. side. "All the sheriffs along the border are extremely concerned about the escalation in violence in Mexico," said Don Reay, executive director of the Texas Border Sheriff's Coalition. "Anytime we see the violence increase as it has recently, the more worried we get that will cross directly onto our side." The violence that broke out in the streets of Reynosa and Rio Bravo, Mexico, hasn't spread across the border to Hidalgo County, Sheriff Guadalupe Trevino Jr. said. Border Patrol officials held a closed-door briefing for Rio Grande Valley law enforcement officers Thursday on the outbreak of violence just across the river. "We tell our guys to be careful out there, to make sure we know where they are and to make sure they have backup on calls to the river," Sheriff Trevino said.

Jesús Navarro Montes

Mexican federal police announced the arrest of Jesús Navarro Montes, 22, in Sonora state in connection with the killing of Agent Aguilar. He...

Leroy Rodriguez Jr. Wesley Dale Dickerson

Leroy Rodriguez Jr. and Wesley Dale Dickerson were indicted, along with 14 others, in February 2007 for their involvement in the Longview branch of "Operation Icebox," a multi-years investigation that has already resulted in dozens of convictions in several related Tyler cases. The 16 defendants were initially charged for conspiracy to possess and distribute 500 grams or more of meth, beginning in January 2003. Rodriguez, 28, of Dallas, was sentenced to nine years in prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing between 50 grams and 500 grams of meth from July 2006 through February 2007. Rodriguez apologized to U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis and to his family. He asked the judge for a lenient sentence. Defense attorney Chris Mulder, of Dallas, asked Davis to follow the nine-year sentence recommended by the probation department. He also asked that his client receive treatment for his "significant drug problem." The defendant agreed to forfeit three firearms and a 1998 Jaguar to the government. Dickerson, 29, Longview, was sentenced by Davis to seven years and three months in prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing between 50 grams and 200 grams of meth in July 2006. Defense attorney Brent How-ard asked Davis to allow the sentence to run at the same time of his parole violation sentence, but the judge ordered that he serve the sentences consecutively. Dickerson was on parole at the time of the offense for a felony in possession of a firearm conviction he received in Gregg County in 2004, records show. Howard said his client was a drug addict and asked the judge to recommend treatment. Dickerson agreed to forfeit a .32-caliber pistol he used during an offense. Assistant U.S. Attorney Rich-ard Moore prosecuted the cases. the investigation, which began in January 2003, previously led to 19 people being convicted for their involvement in the Tyler-based organization that sold "ice" meth in Tyler, Shreveport and Miami. All 19, who were indicted in March 2006, have been sentenced.

Leroy Rodriguez Jr. Wesley Dale Dickerson

Leroy Rodriguez Jr. and Wesley Dale Dickerson were indicted, along with 14 others, in February 2007 for their involvement in the Longview br...

Michael Anthony Puente

Irving narcotics authorities arrested a suspect Thursday in connection with the September heroin overdose of 16-year-old Ana Rojas. On Tuesday, Irving police announced they will charge Michael Anthony Puente with murder.Irving police announced they will file a murder charge with the Dallas County district attorney's office against 19-year-old Michael Anthony Puente in the death of 16-year-old Ana Rojas, a 10th-grader at Winfree Academy Charter School in Irving. She was found unconscious Sept. 2 at an apartment in the 1800 block of Pioneer Drive in Irving. She was there to spend the night after an evening of partying elsewhere, police said. When police and paramedics arrived, someone at the apartment was already performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation, but the girl died at Baylor Medical Center at Irving. The Dallas County medical examiner found that Ana overdosed on heroin and diphenhydramine, components of cheese heroin. Drug dealers have in recent years marketed Mexican black tar heroin and ground up cold medicine as cheese, with a special emphasis on creating younger users – some still in elementary school. Ana is one of at least 26 youths 18 or younger who have died from the deadly combo since 2005, according to a database kept by The Dallas Morning News. Toxicology tests also found she had used marijuana and Xanax. Gerardo Rojas, 48, Ana's father, said he was pleased to hear Irving was pursuing murder charges, "but it's not going to bring my daughter back." "At least this monster is not going to kill another teenager," he said. Officer David Tull, an Irving police spokesman, characterized Ana's relationship with Mr. Puente as "an acquaintance," but did not elaborate. He also did not say what led authorities to Mr. Puente or when he allegedly gave the girl the heroin. Mr. Puente, who has a history of drug arrests, was arrested Jan. 10 in Wilmer. He had been at the Dallas County Judicial Treatment Center, a drug rehabilitation facility in the city south of Dallas, officials said. He was ordered to go to the Wilmer facility after his release from the Dallas County Jail in November after his last arrest on drug charges, county officials said. Mr. Puente was also arrested in March 2006 on a charge of possession of a controlled substance in a Dallas Independent School District drug-free zone, according to Dallas County Jail officials. He is being held at the Irving Jail in lieu of $50,000 bail. Investigators say they plan to file their case with the Dallas County district attorney's office soon. Within days of Ana's death, community leaders met with Irving Mayor Herbert Gears and Police Chief Larry Boyd, demanding that the death be vigorously investigated. "I congratulate Irving," said Carlos Quintanilla, an anti-cheese activist who attended that Irving meeting. "We felt this should not be ignored. Someone died. This is a strong deterrent to the kids out there who are selling this drug. Hopefully other cities will follow this." Jurors could begin hearing evidence in March against the other local man charged with murder over a cheese heroin overdose, 20-year-old Deleon Juan Vanegas. Dallas police arrested him in the March 31 death of Fernando Cortez Jr., a 15-year-old Molina High School student. Authorities said that Mr. Vanegas, the boyfriend of Fernando's sister, gave the young man cheese heroin while the three were at a Far East Dallas home. Fernando was found dead from an overdose on a couch the next morning. "I don't believe it's a murder case," said Mr. Vanegas' attorney, Heath Hyde. "It wasn't a situation where they were holding him down and pouring it down his throat. When people use drugs, bad things happen." He said he was not playing down the seriousness of the youth's death. "A young man died," Mr. Hyde said. "Cheese is a problem. It's a terrible thing, but I don't believe that murder is the correct resolution of the case."

Michael Anthony Puente

Irving narcotics authorities arrested a suspect Thursday in connection with the September heroin overdose of 16-year-old Ana Rojas. On Tuesd...