Bond denied for Columbus, NM, chief, mayor, trustee
There’s a link to the full indictment at the end of this article:
U.S. District Judge William Lynch ordered today that most defendants charged with being part of an illegal firearms trafficking ring be held without bond, the Las Cruces-Sun-News is reporting.
Those who will be held without bond, probably until trial, include Columbus Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Police Chief Angelo Vega and Trustee Blas Gutierrez. Only Gutierrez’s wife, Gabriela Gutierrez, and his cousin, Eva Lucie Gutierrez, were allowed to be released under supervision.
The defendants all entered pleas in the case today of not guilty.
[…]
The Wall Street Journal also had a story on this today, but they also covered the unrelated festivities in Columbus this weekend:
[…]And they have a beautiful slideshow.The accused gun smugglers are deeply intertwined with the community. Roberto Gutierrez, who owns the local grocery store and is a village councilman, is now the acting mayor. He has not been implicated in any wrongdoing. Among those arrested were his brother-in-law—the mayor—as well as his son, the councilman, a daughter and a nephew.
[…]
On Saturday, few residents would talk about the raid. Some said they were afraid of repercussions. Others said they didn’t want to speak ill of the mayor.
The weekend focused on a different raid that happened here in 1916. That year, Mexican revolutionary Pancho Villa charged into town to seek revenge on local gun dealers who sold him faulty ammunition, according to local lore.
The event has been transformed into a festival to celebrate bi-national friendship. Hundreds of riders on horseback from both sides of the border convened on Saturday for a day of music and food….
Riders from Palomas, Mexico, head for Columbus, N.M., on Saturday, remembering Pancho Villa’s 1916 invasion. Dominic Bracco II/Prime for The Wall Street Journal