Posted on 07/09/2012 3:33:54 PM PDT by Kaslin
After more than 18 months of waiting and a contempt of Congress charge against Attorney General Eric Holder, the FBI unsealed an indictment of five illegal Mexican bandits charged with the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry today in Arizona and offered a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of four of the five men who are still on the run and suspected to be in Mexico. The men are Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Lionel Portillo-Meza, Manuel and Heraclio are brothers. During a press conference earlier today, the FBI confirmed they will ask for the individuals below to be extradited to the United States should they be captured south of the border. The FBI did not confirm whether any of these bandits were working as FBI informants at the time of Terry's death, which confidential sources have said to be the case. At least two of the guns found at Terry's murder scene were linked back to the Department of Justice's Operation Fast and Furious.
From the Department of Justice:
According to the indictment, Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Lionel Portillo-Meza are charged with crimes including first degree murder, second degree murder, conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery, attempted interference with commerce by robbery, use and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, assault on a federal officer and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. A sixth defendant, Rito Osorio-Arellanes, is charged only with conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery.
The 11-count third superseding indictment, which was handed up by a federal grand jury in the District of Arizona on Nov. 7, 2011, alleges that on Dec. 14, 2010, five of the defendants (Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, Jesus Rosario Favela-Astorga, Ivan Soto-Barraza, Heraclio Osorio-Arellanes and Lionel Portillo-Meza) engaged in a firefight with Border Patrol agents. During the exchange of gunfire, Agent Terry was shot and killed. The indictment alleges that the defendants had illegally entered the United States from Mexico for the purpose of robbing drug traffickers of their contraband. In addition to the murder of Agent Terry, the indictment also alleges that the five defendants assaulted Border Patrol Agents William Castano, Gabriel Fragoza and Timothy Keller, who were with Agent Terry during the firefight.
Statements from Attorney General Eric Holder, U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and FBI Special Agent in Charge James L. Turgal:
“Agent Terry served his country honorably and made the ultimate sacrifice in trying to protect it from harm, and we will stop at nothing to bring those responsible for his murder to justice,” said Attorney General Eric Holder. “This investigation has previously resulted in one defendant being charged with Agent Terry’s murder and taken into custody, and today’s announcement reflects the department’s unrelenting commitment to finding and arresting the other individuals responsible for this horrific tragedy so that Agent Terry’s family, friends and fellow law enforcement agents receive the justice they deserve.”
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California Laura E. Duffy said, “Agent Terry died in the line of duty while protecting his country. But he was more than a federal agent – he was a son, a brother, a co-worker and a friend to many. The indictment unsealed today reflects the progress our dedicated law enforcement team has made piecing together this complex murder case. But there is more work to be done and we will not rest until we bring justice to the family of Brian Terry.”
“U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry made the ultimate sacrifice in December of 2010, while protecting our border,” stated James L. Turgal Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge, Phoenix Division. “Today’s announcement is an important step forward in the pursuit of justice for Border Patrol Agent Terry and his family. It is our hope that the publicity surrounding this case will lead to information concerning the whereabouts of the remaining four fugitives. The FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to pursue those individuals responsible for the murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry.”
The Terry family is pleased with the move to indict the individuals charged with Brian Terry's death and has issued a statement:
“It has been a difficult 18 months for the family since Brian Terry was murdered in December of 2010 and today’s announcement provides hope that justice will eventually be served,” said Robert Heyer, Chairman of the Brian Terry Foundation and cousin to Brian Terry. “The Terry family would like to thank U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy and her team of prosecutors along with the special agents of the FBI’s Tucson Office and the Mexico City Legal Attaché who have continued to pursue leads in the murder case that ultimately led to the additional indictments of the four fugitive defendants. The Terry family would also like to thank the government of Mexico for their assistance in the investigation. It is the family’s hope that the unsealing of details in the case, the identification of the four fugitives and the issuance of reward monies will lead to the eventual capture of all individuals responsible for the murder of Agent Terry.”
“Today’s developments certainly mean that the criminal prosecution of Brian Terry’s killers is moving forward,” said Terry family attorney Patrick McGroder. “However, the accountability aspect of Operation Fast and Furious, the flawed ATF/DOJ gun trafficking investigation that put weapons into the hands of the men that killed Brian Terry, remains stalled. The Terry family once again asks that the Attorney General and the Department of Justice comply with the request for documents made by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee so that all Americans can know who approved of the operation in order that those individuals can be held accountable for their decisions. Agent Terry died as a hero protecting this country; he and his family rightly deserve a full and thorough explanation of how Operation Fast and Furious came to be.”
I pray that it goes through
Thanks Kaslin.
I pray that it goes through
If the crime was committed in Arizona, and Brian Terry was a citizen of Arizona, why doesn’t the Arizona AG bring charges against the ATF agents involved and thereby Eric Holder???
When I first read your post approximately 30 minutes ago I dismissed it in my mind as something you just made up. But when it was brought up on Fox News a few minutes ago I recalled having read or heard report about it the government supplied the border controls which included Brian Terry shutguns with bean bag ammo
The timing of all this is highly suspect. All of a sudden Eric Holder is getting off his a** and doing something? Where is the report of the IG? it has only been a year and a half??
re Indictment: So, they didn’t indite George Zimmerman? And only George Zimmerman?
They are slipping. Their opportunity to kill two birds with one stone has passed.
...and so begins their 20 year trial.....
How convenient and timely. Looks like the FBI has been compromised too.
I’m waiting for the indictments of Holder, Perez, and all the other lying SOBs who have destroyed a good institution.
Just read the latest Fast & Furious articles/reports posted at FR and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Below is a link to a video describing using this type of weapon in law enforcement. Of course they say towards the end of the report that if the bean bag fails to suppress the assailant then the officer is vulnerable. Duh...
Police: Bean bag rounds can save lives (Video)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So2156Ld2yw&feature=related
Odd...
They all look like “White Hispanics”.
Looks like he used some Slick-50 and Turtlewax on that nose.
Accomplice for providing weapons: Eric Holder, et al.
“There should be at least seven people charged”
I think you meant 9.
You forgot Hillary and Big Sis
They’ve had this under wraps since Nov 2011? Tell me who is getting political now?
Cheers!
So are Eric Holder and Obama an accessory to murder since they gave these criminals gun that killed Brian Terry?
However, it looks to me more than an “accessory to murder” since Obama and Holder are also guilty of murder because their “common purpose” or “actus reus” and “mens rea” was to cause mayhem and death when they walked these weapons to Mexico.
The state cannot bring charges against the ATF agents or Holder because they have what is commonly known as ‘Supremacy Clause immunity” from state prosecution as they fulfill their federal duties. The reason this concept works is because the federal government is a separate sovereign from the individual states and the federal government has a lawful right granted by Congress to carry out federal law and function without interference or purview of the individual states. I am not defending the federal government here but only showing the rule of law. Even if a state could specifically prove that a federal agent blatantly broke a state statute in their performance of their federal duties then the federal agent has a right under federal law to have the case moved from state court to federal court. There, the state charge could be dismissed by a federal judge and the state would be legally powerless to do anything about it within their own state system. Lastly, federal office holders such as Holder are not politically accountable to state court systems or you would have chaos with 50 different states trying to charge federal officeholders with various laws.
They missed some unindicted co-conspirators.
Says it all!
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