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Stockpiled weapons mesmerize jurors in Mexican Mafia trial
Web Posted: 04/13/2005 02:10 PM CDT
Guillermo Contreras
Express-News Staff Writer
They cannot speak, yet they captivated a federal jury's attention and were guarded as closely as the most important government witness.
For almost an hour today, all 51 were introduced to the jurors, some of whom sat mesmerized as a Bexar County sheriff's deputy announced them to the court.
“An AK-47 with a bayonet,†Deputy George Autobee said, cradling an assault rifle in his hands.
Reaching into a plastic container holding several more similar firearms, Autobee pulled out another.
“Mossberg 12-gauge with pistol grip,†he said.
The weapons – assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and silencers – were among an armory uncovered in April 2004 in a tool shed of a home in the 800 block of Proctor Boulevard in South San Antonio. The armory included bulletproof vests, a jacket similar to one used by police in raids, handcuffs, ski masks, two-way radios and bags of ammunition.
In the monthlong trial of four alleged gang members, the armory can mean longer prison stays for at least two of the defendants -– alleged gang general Jimmy “Panson†Zavala and alleged lieutenant Johnny “Gira†Garcia-Esparza -- if they are convicted.
Because of two firearm counts they are charged with, they face five years in prison on top of the 25 years to life they face on drug-conspiracy and money-laundering charges.
The two others, Juan Victor “Smiley†Valles and Sammy “Spiderman†Garcia, are not charged in the firearm counts.
During the remainder of the trial, prosecutors are expected to try to prove that the Mexican Mafia used the weapons to further the gang's alleged drug-trafficking conspiracy.
According to gang turncoats who testified this week and last week, only the gang's leadership -– lieutenants and up -- knew the location of the armory, and only they could issue the weapons to the members in the lower ranks.
Lawyers for all four defendants disputed the government's claim that the guns are tied to their clients, noting that no fingerprints were retrieved from any of the weapons.
But Autobee pointed out two key pieces of evidence that show a link – luggage tags bearing the name of the ex-wife of Daniel “Gumby†Leza, the alleged gang vice-president targeted during last year's crackdown on the Mexican Mafia.
The tags were on bags that contained some of the items found in the armory.
One of the tags had another apparent link – it listed the woman’s address - where Leza was arrested in that roundup last August.
Leza pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy less than two months after the roundup, one of 24 to do so before the trial began April 4 before U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia.
Testimony continues for at least another week.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA041305.mafiatrial.en.1d4629f38.html
Web Posted: 04/13/2005 02:10 PM CDT
Guillermo Contreras
Express-News Staff Writer
They cannot speak, yet they captivated a federal jury's attention and were guarded as closely as the most important government witness.
For almost an hour today, all 51 were introduced to the jurors, some of whom sat mesmerized as a Bexar County sheriff's deputy announced them to the court.
“An AK-47 with a bayonet,†Deputy George Autobee said, cradling an assault rifle in his hands.
Reaching into a plastic container holding several more similar firearms, Autobee pulled out another.
“Mossberg 12-gauge with pistol grip,†he said.
The weapons – assault rifles, shotguns, pistols and silencers – were among an armory uncovered in April 2004 in a tool shed of a home in the 800 block of Proctor Boulevard in South San Antonio. The armory included bulletproof vests, a jacket similar to one used by police in raids, handcuffs, ski masks, two-way radios and bags of ammunition.
In the monthlong trial of four alleged gang members, the armory can mean longer prison stays for at least two of the defendants -– alleged gang general Jimmy “Panson†Zavala and alleged lieutenant Johnny “Gira†Garcia-Esparza -- if they are convicted.
Because of two firearm counts they are charged with, they face five years in prison on top of the 25 years to life they face on drug-conspiracy and money-laundering charges.
The two others, Juan Victor “Smiley†Valles and Sammy “Spiderman†Garcia, are not charged in the firearm counts.
During the remainder of the trial, prosecutors are expected to try to prove that the Mexican Mafia used the weapons to further the gang's alleged drug-trafficking conspiracy.
According to gang turncoats who testified this week and last week, only the gang's leadership -– lieutenants and up -- knew the location of the armory, and only they could issue the weapons to the members in the lower ranks.
Lawyers for all four defendants disputed the government's claim that the guns are tied to their clients, noting that no fingerprints were retrieved from any of the weapons.
But Autobee pointed out two key pieces of evidence that show a link – luggage tags bearing the name of the ex-wife of Daniel “Gumby†Leza, the alleged gang vice-president targeted during last year's crackdown on the Mexican Mafia.
The tags were on bags that contained some of the items found in the armory.
One of the tags had another apparent link – it listed the woman’s address - where Leza was arrested in that roundup last August.
Leza pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy less than two months after the roundup, one of 24 to do so before the trial began April 4 before U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia.
Testimony continues for at least another week.
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/metro/stories/MYSA041305.mafiatrial.en.1d4629f38.html
Unfortunately I only have a cache now, but by the time die there will be an armory. 