By Reader-Researcher R.C.
N.S.: The headline is misleading. There was no "international" (read: foreign) gang.
DEA agent in Chicago charged with conspiring to traffic guns and drugs with international gang
A former Evanston police detective has been accused in a sweeping federal indictment of joining the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration so he could protect a vicious Puerto Rico-based drug organization responsible for numerous killings and other violence.
Fernando Gomez, 41, was arrested Tuesday morning at the DEA's Chicago field office, authorities said.
Hours later, he was led into U.S. Magistrate Judge Susan Cox's courtroom in a T-shirt and blue jeans and shackled at the ankles. As prosecutors began to detail the allegations, several of Gomez's fellow agents seated in the courtroom gallery exchanged stunned glances and one appeared to cry.
Prosecutors asked that Gomez be held in custody as a risk to flee pending his transfer to face the charges in New York. Cox set a detention hearing for Thursday in Chicago.
Gomez was charged in a superseding indictment unsealed in New York with racketeering conspiracy for his alleged decadelong affiliation with the Organizacion de Narcotraficantes Unidos, a conglomeration of drug traffickers based in Puerto Rico responsible for importing vast shipments of cocaine into New York and elsewhere.
The 40-page indictment alleged the gang participated in at least eight drug-related killings in New York and Puerto Rico dating to 2005.
One of Gomez's co-defendants, William Vasquez-Baez, was a police officer in Puerto Rico when he and another alleged gang member killed a rival in San Juan in 2007, prosecutors charged in court records filed in the case.
Gomez began working for the gang when he was a detective for Evanston police, according to the charges. He obtained firearms from drug dealers and provided them to gang leader Jose Martinez-Diaz, also known as "Tony Zinc," in Puerto Rico, according to the indictment.
"Gomez then joined the DEA so that he could help members of the narcotics conspiracy, including Martinez-Diaz, evade prosecution by law enforcement," the indictment alleged.
The charges do not allege Gomez personally participated in any of the killings. One of the counts he faces, however, accused him of carrying firearms — "some of which were brandished and discharged" — in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.
Gomez faces a mandatory minimum 20-year sentence and up to life in prison if convicted, Assistant U.S. Attorney Abigail Peluso said in court Tuesday.
Gomez kept his hands clasped behind his back and answered in a soft voice when the judge asked him if he understood the charges. He shook his head slightly as Peluso read aloud a passage of the indictment accusing him of illegally trafficking guns while he was an Evanston cop.
Evanston police Cmdr. Ryan Glew said Tuesday that Gomez joined the force in 2004 as a patrolman and ended up as a detective assigned to the tactical unit, assisting with drug and gang investigations. He left in 2011 to join the DEA, Glew said.
Glew said there's no indication the guns Gomez allegedly sent to Puerto Rico came from the department's evidence locker or otherwise were connected with Gomez's police work.
He declined to comment on Gomez's disciplinary record, deferring to federal prosecutors.
After court, Gomez's attorney, Robert Rascia, said Gomez had "a distinguished career" with the U.S. Marines before going into law enforcement. He would not comment specifically on the charges.
In 2016, the Chicago Crime Commission gave Gomez a Law Enforcement Excellence Award for his work for the DEA's violent gang conspiracy unit in a case against a group of drug traffickers affiliated with Mexican-based cartels such as Jalisco New Generation and Zetas.
The operation "yielded the successful seizure of vast amounts of bulk cash and narcotics in transit between Mexico and Chicago," as well as the arrest of 12 defendants, including a high-ranking member of the Chicago-based Spanish Cobras street gang, the Crime Commission said at the time.
Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where the charges were filed, said in a written statement Tuesday the DEA is an organization committed to upholding the nation's drug laws and conducting a "relentless pursuit of narcotics traffickers."
"But as alleged, Gomez joined the DEA to betray those laws, and to help narcotics traffickers evade detection by law enforcement," Berman said. "He will now be prosecuted to the full extent of the law."
In an emailed statement, the Chicago DEA said the agency "takes all allegations of misconduct and wrongdoing very seriously."
"Particularly, when criminal allegations come forward, DEA aggressively pursues those allegations and fully cooperates with all investigating agencies," the statement read.
A spokeswoman would not provide more details of Gomez's career, referring a reporter to prosecutors in New York.
Prosecutors in New York have alleged the Organizacion de Narcotraficantes Unidos, which translates to the United Organization of Drug Traffickers, was formed in Puerto Rico in 2004 as part of an alliance among gangs aimed at increasing drug profits while avoiding attention from law enforcement.
The organization quickly became known for its ruthlessness, including shooting rivals on sight and killing or threatening to kill any member caught cooperating with law enforcement — as well as their relatives, prosecutors have said.
The organization gained notoriety in May 2010 when members used assault rifles to shoot up a police helicopter in San Juan that had been chasing a drug suspect, according to court records. The co-pilot was killed and two other officers were wounded as the helicopter made an emergency landing on a baseball field.
jmeisner@chicagotribune.com
jkeilman@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @jmetr22b
Twitter @JohnKeilman
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A former Evanston police detective has been accused in a sweeping federal indictment of joining the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration so he could protect a vicious Puerto Rico-based drug organization responsible for numerous killings and other violence
| | A former Evanston police detective has been accused of joining the DEA so he could conspire to traffic guns and narcotics with a violent international gang responsible for numerous murders. |
Murderer Paroled From "Life" Sentence
ReplyDeleteOn October 3, 1963, in a small Hollywood, California apartment, Thora Rose lay dead, savagely beaten in her own apartment. It took 30 years to bring the killer, one Vernon Robinson, to trial.
Robinson had the support of his church in South Central Los Angeles, and its pastor, a prominent citizen in Los Angeles. CBS filmed the entire trial, thinking it would make a great 60 Minutes episode-Innocent black man messed up by a mean prosecutor. CBS hoped/expected Robinson to be acquitted.
The evidence was 34 fingerprints left in the victim's apartment. Not until 1990 were the fingerprints matched to Robinson through the then-new AFIS database.
Robinson claimed he was in Navy boot camp in San Diego on October 3, 1963. At the trial it was proved Robinson was actually at a Naval station in Santa Monica with freedom to leave the base at night, as he was in the Reserves, not the regular navy.
Here (http://articles.latimes.com/1993-5-31/news/mn-41953_1_fingerprint-evidence) is a pre-trial article in the Los Angeles Times of May 31, 1993 giving a summary of the case.
On October 27, 1993, a downtown Los Angeles jury found Vernon Robinson (http://articles.latimes.com/1993-10-27/local/me-50143_1_fingerprint-analysis) guilty after sever hours of deliberation.
Here (http://articles.latimes/1993-12-18/local/me-3105_1_life-sentence) is the LA Times story on the sentencing hearing.
This was a fairly big win for the LA District Attorneys office at the time.
On August 8 of this year, the California authorities "granted parole" to Robinson, according to the Inmate Locator for the California prison system. He has just been released, as his name is no longer in the system, last week he was.
What this means is outgoing Governor Jerry Brown (who could have overruled the parole board) authorized Robinson's parole. Brown has been paroling murderers in large numbers for years.
One caveat. Robinson had been in the Stockton Medical facility for many years. He may have been released due to poor health. I couldn't find any news items concerning his parole.
I exchanged emails with former Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney Paul Turley, who prosecuted the case. Walt Lewis, whose book on the criminal justice system I read, put us in touch. I had lunch with Mr. Turley in 2012 when he visited Tennessee.
The links provided give information. In addition, Google: "Vernon Robinson Thora Rose."
Amigo. What did Don want to do with Puerto Rico? Give Puerto Rico back to Spain or something. Sounds like a good idea. Not so long ago PR as sending their heroin addicts to Chicago for rehab [I am sure that worked well]. Send PR back to Spain in return. Entry into the EU and all that. They will feel more comfortable among their own Spanish speakers.
ReplyDeleteHire enough minority cops in the US and eventually,you'll have a police force,DEA or anything else,resembling the corrupt Mexican police.All on the take.Those who aren't,gets a dose of "friendly fire" and given an early retirement.Of course,as more banditos get hired here,they will begin hiring their own relatives and fellow banditos,which will seal our fate as a lawless country-like Mexico.All part of Pelosi and Schumer's plan.
ReplyDelete--GRA
Let him die in prison.He's earned it...lol.What will he do on the outside--go buy some Obamacare?Get a job?He hasn't paid his debt to society yet.
ReplyDeleteThis is a preview of the prison reform being floated around by Hannity (and likely passed in the next Congress).Trump wants the minority vote and what better way (in HIS mind)then to let thugs out of prison early,who will gratefully vote for him in 2020.
Trump is severely incorrect in his assumption.But it's going to happen.The writing is "on the Wall"--the same Wall that SHOULD BE getting built on our southern border.
--GRA