Gimme a break!
A Nov. 21 , 2001 report indicates a 'knock and talk' event on Oct. 23, 2005?....... Damn good foresite and futurist predicting I'd say..
Misleading headline. The "Dope Dealer" who pled guilty had no involvement in the Ramos-Compean case. His only connection to anything associated with the case is that, when caught with the load of drugs which he is now pleading guilty to, he claimed he was innocent and that the drugs were left at his house by Davilas, the drug runner in the R-C case.
Apparently, he wasn't really an innocent person who had a load of drugs dumped at his house by a drug-runner after all, as he seems to be pleading guilty to being a drug distributer.
Oddly, the pro-Ramos-Compean folks, who criticize their opponents for believing a "drug smuggler", have absolute confidence that this now-convicted drug dealer was telling the truth when he claimed that the drugs weren't his.
To be more accurate, it's hard to follow all the changes in the WND story on this "2nd bust". But please follow me along the path a little ways.
In an early report on the incident WND claimed:
But sources say Aldrete-Davila technically was apprehended for the second incident, and not arrested, on condition he testify against Ramos and Compean.
For a while, that's what pro-RC folks argued here, that AD had been apprehended with drugs but let off so long as he testified.
Later, WND changed it's story -- no longer had AD been "aprehended", but rather he was "identified" by some guy caught with AD's drugs. In THIS story, the guy ran a "safe house" for illegals, and AD came only because he had "car trouble":
Ortiz-Hernandez explained to DEA investigators that Aldrete-Davila decided to bring the drugs to 12101 Quetzal in Clint, Texas, after the van developed engine trouble. Ortiz-Hernandez had never met Aldrete-Davila. But Aldrete-Davila knew about Ortiz-Hernandez, having grown up with his brother, Jose Roberto Ortiz, in San Ysidro, Mexico.
Because of the family connections, Ortiz-Hernandez gave Aldrete-Davila refuge at his safe house.
Poor innocent Ortiz, caught the next day with drugs from the van because AD left them there. But later, the WND story changes again, as they have to admit that Ortiz isn't really so trustworthy a source, having been caught with quite a bit more than just the single "load" supposedly from AD:
Ortiz-Hernandez has been named in a federal drug indictment that alleges federal agents discovered about 5,000 pounds of marijuana at his house over a period of several visits from March 2004 to October 2005.
In fact, Ortiz had been under investigation for some time. And now, WND reports that he has pled guilty (in referenced article):
WND has obtained copies of a signed guilty plea entered Tuesday with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas in El Paso by Ortiz-Hernandez admitting he conspired to possess with the intent to distribute 2,200 pounds or more of marijuana in violation of federal drug statutes.
So he's no longer a safe house who innocently was stuck with AD's load, he's no longer a drop-zone for people storing drugs -- he's a DRUG DEALER, who pled guilty to possession with intent to distribute.
And what is this "plea bargain" that supposedly protects AD? He pled to everything we know, AND MORE. What other crimes does WND claim he committed that he was given "leniency" on in order to shut him up about AD? They don't say. I guess they figure we'll think that "more than 2200 pounds" is different than "5000 pounds".
The ONLY evidence ever presented by WND to suggest AD was even involved in this is the testimony of the now-convicted drug dealer that he saw AD's catheter. Some have argued that since he described a catheter so accurately, he must have seen AD, but note that Ortiz also had a catheter.
And of course, news articles about the trial published at the time Ortiz was questioned mentioned AD's involvement, mentioned he was caught with marijuana, and mentioned his operation and his catheter. And mentioned he was coming into the country to testify.
So while it isn't impossible that AD went to Ortiz that night, there is nothing particularly credible about Ortiz's story.
For example, people have argued here that AD must have had a gun, because drug-smuggling is dangerous, and if someone steals your load you might get killed. People have argued that AD might have been SHOT by the drug dealers for losing the load to the police.
But in this story, as originally told by WND, AD was taking drugs SOMEWHERE ELSE, and then LEFT them with Ortiz because he had car trouble. What drug smuggler would drop his load off at the WRONG HOUSE and leave it there? According to the pro-RC folks, that would be a death sentence. But AD is still alive, which suggests AD did NOT take someone's load and give it to Ortiz.
I suppose the pro-RC folks will argue that Ortiz was LYING about WHY AD was at his house, but truthful that he WAS at his house. They would now argue AD was SUPPOSED to deliver the drugs to Ortiz.
But these same pro-RC folks believed that AD was arrested for this 2nd load, CAUGHT with it. Then they believed he had been detained, but not arrested. Then they believed he had car trouble and left it at this innocent man's house. So I guess they wouldn't have trouble with the 4th story either. So long as it makes Sutton look like a liar, who care how many times the story changes?
Oh, and in case anybody is confused by it, when WND cites as a "2nd source of evidence" an "investigative report", they are simply noting the investigative report that contains the claim by Ortiz. In other words, investigative reports are simply the documentation of the claims by the sources, NOT additional proof of the claims. It's a common WND tactic to cite every piece of paper containing a claim as if it's some new piece of evidence proving the claim.
ping
Ping!
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Crime Without Consequence - (MEXICAN) Drug Runners Unprosecuted
ABC-15 | Jul 31, 2007 | Lisa Fletcher
If you're caught with as little as two pounds of marijuana, you're going to jail for up to seven years. But the rules don't apply if you're part of a drug cartel, muling in hundreds of pounds from Mexico.
The ABC15 Investigators discover that our federal government has actually set "weight limits." If you're illegal and bringing in less than 500 pounds, the feds don't prosecute.
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