Pubdate: Sat, 12 May 2007
Source: News & Observer (Raleigh, NC)
Copyright: 2007 The News and Observer Publishing Company
Contact: http://www.newsobserver.com/484/story/433256.html
Website: http://www.news-observer.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/304
Author: Sarah Ovaska

SOMBRERO INCIDENT TO GET FEDERAL REVIEW
U.S. Attorney 'Troubled' By Report Of Agent's Photo Of Drug Trafficking Suspect

RALEIGH - A federal review was launched Friday into an incident in 
which a Drug Enforcement Administration agent forced a drug 
trafficking suspect to pose for a photograph wearing a sombrero and 
holding a Mexican flag. George Holding, the U.S. attorney for the 
Eastern District of North Carolina, announced in a news release 
Friday that he was "troubled" by an article in Thursday's News & 
Observer about the case. He has asked the Department of Justice, 
which oversees both the U.S. Attorney's Office and the DEA, to 
determine whether Jorge Hernandez-Villalvazo's civil rights were 
violated. "Regardless of what crime an individual may have committed, 
all are entitled to humane and respectful treatment by the criminal 
justice system," Holding stated. Although the photograph was taken in 
the spring of 2005, its existence wasn't made public until this week.

The DEA has not released the agent's name, in line with its policy 
not to identify agents in most situations. The federal agency is 
doing its own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the 
photograph, said Ruth Porter-Whipple, an Atlanta-based spokeswoman 
for the federal agency. The agent worked from the DEA's office on 
Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh at the time of the incident.

"We're gathering information," she said. When asked whether the agent 
was still performing regular duties as a DEA agent, Porter-Whipple 
declined to comment.

She did say the photograph was not submitted as evidence in the 
initial criminal case and said it no longer exists.

"We don't have the picture any longer," she said. 
Hernandez-Villalvazo, 41, was arrested in April 2005 and subsequently 
taken to the DEA office, his attorney Jeff Cutler said this week. 
Hernandez-Villalvazo was one of seven people arrested and facing 
criminal charges in the Wake County Courthouse in connection with a 
drug-trafficking ring uncovered through court-ordered wiretaps of 
several phone lines. The investigation was a joint venture of local 
and federal law enforcement. Hernandez-Villalvazo, a native of Mexico 
who has permanent resident status in the United States, spent more 
than two years in the Wake County jail awaiting his trial.

It was in the Raleigh DEA office that Hernandez-Villalvazo said a 
sombrero was put on his head and a Mexican flag placed in his hand 
while a picture was taken of him, Cutler said. Hernandez-Villalvazo 
felt humiliated, Cutler said. On May 3, the existence of the 
photograph was confirmed to Cutler. Hernandez-Villalvazo -- who had 
said he was innocent of the drug charges -- was immediately offered a 
plea deal that allowed him to walk out of jail the next day.

Hernandez-Villalvazo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deal drugs under 
an Alford agreement, which allows suspects to avoid admitting they 
committed a crime. The photograph was not submitted as part of the 
evidence for the drug trafficking case, and neither the Wake County 
prosecutor nor the lead detective on the case with the Wake County 
Sheriff's Office knew about it until Cutler started asking questions.
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