-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- http://dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/27131_DEAPLEA05.html Drug agent pleads guilty in murder-for-hire plot Mexico-based officer accused of revenge-killing plans 02/05/2000 By Tracey Eaton / The Dallas Morning News A U.S. drug agent has pleaded guilty to charges in connection with a murder-for-hire plot and probably will be sentenced to about seven years in prison, authorities said Friday. Salvador Martinez, 37, a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was charged in December with plotting to avenge the 1995 killing of his cousin in El Paso. Relatives said Mr. Martinez decided to plead guilty because he didn't want his family to have to endure a criminal trial. "The family wanted him to fight it, said Mr. Martinez's cousin, Phil Jordan, a former DEA agent living in Plano and brother of the slain man. "I feel confident that an American jury - or a Mexican jury - would have found him innocent." Mr. Martinez, who had been based in Monterrey, Mexico, was originally charged with violating federal murder-for-hire statutes and, if convicted, could have been sentenced to 10 years or more in prison. As part of a plea bargain, he pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of using interstate commerce facilities - in this case, a phone line - as part of the alleged plot. If the court accepts the agreement, Mr. Martinez will probably receive a sentence of seven years and three months. Sentencing is expected in March or April. Mervyn Mosbacker, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said Mr. Martinez "violated the trust of the American people, breaking the very laws he was sworn to uphold." The defendant's cousin, Lionel "Bruno" Jordan, 27, was killed during a carjacking in 1995. A Mexican teenager, Miguel Angel Flores, then 13, was convicted, but that decision was later overturned and he was freed. Mr. Martinez was accused of trying to hire a Mexican man to arrange the teenager's murder. The agent allegedly promised to pay him $10,000 and give him a government .38-caliber semi-automatic handgun, court documents show. The $10,000 would have evidently come from a DEA fund set aside for legitimate payments to informants, the documents show. Donnie Marshall, the DEA's acting administrator, said he condemns Mr. Martinez's actions "in the strongest terms. It is reprehensible when an individual takes the law into his own hands, made more egregious in this case by someone sworn to uphold the law." Mr. Martinez's relatives said they believe an informant - said to be a Mexican police commander - "set up" Mr. Martinez, taking advantage of his grief over his cousin's murder. "We don't want him to go to jail. We still believe that he is innocent," said the agent's cousin, Virginia Castaneda. "We've been praying he wouldn't accept the plea. But it came down to Sal's decision," Mr. Jordan said. "It's devastating." After his arrest, Mr. Martinez told The Dallas Morning News that his feelings over his cousin's murder "were misinterpreted and built into a criminal case." )1999 The Dallas Morning News -- ----------------------- NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml ----------------------- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
