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Friday, July 30, 2010 | Serving Del Rio and Val Verde County: Since 1929
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Former BP agent found guilty
Published May 1, 2009
A former Border Patrol agent was found guilty in federal court here Thursday for conspiring to smuggle more than a ton of marijuana into the United States from Mexico.
A federal jury found Raquel Esquivel, 25, guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess marijuana with intent to distribute following her trial, which began in U.S. District Court here Monday.
U.S. District Judge Alia Moses Ludlum, who presided over the trial, set a Nov. 30 sentencing date for Esquivel. The former Border Patrol agent faces a maximum prison sentence of 10 years to life, a fine of up to $4 million, a term of up to five years supervised release and a $100 special assessment.
Esquivel, who was born and raised in Del Rio, was convicted of being part of a marijuana smuggling conspiracy run by her friends Diego Esquivel and Ramon Patuel.
The two men, both residents of Del Rio, were arrested in early December 2007 as they returned from the Pecos River boat launch in western Val Verde County with 603.73 pounds of marijuana packed into the Skeeter bass boat being pulled by the truck they were in.
Both men have pleaded guilty to their roles in the smuggling conspiracy, and both testified against Esquivel.
Esquivel had served in the Border Patrol less than a year when she was accused of giving the location of Border Patrol sensors and providing information about Border Patrol operations in the Comstock area to Diego Esquivel and Patuel.
Agents who investigated the case testified that Esquivel told them she had known Diego Esquivel since they were both children and said she had dated him in high school.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Senior Special Agent Mike Hinojosa recounted for the jury an interview of Esquivel he helped conduct after her friends had implicated her in the smuggling conspiracy.
Hinojosa said Esquivel admitted to knowing that Diego Esquivel and Patuel were involved in marijuana smuggling. He also testified she admitted to discussing information about the location of Border Patrol sensors in the Comstock area, as well as providing information about ongoing narcotics interdiction operations conducted by the Border Patrol and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
In his closing statement to the jury, Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Bennett, who prosecuted the case with Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Combs, told jurors that Esquivel “played a major part” in the smuggling operation run by her friends.
“What Ms. Esquivel did compromised the effectiveness of the United States Border Patrol,” Bennett told the jury.
“She knew what she was doing. . . she chose (Diego Esquivel and Ramon Patuel) as her friends, and she participated in their criminal activity,” Bennett said.
Esquivel’s attorney, Gregory D. Torres of Eagle Pass, said the accusations against his client were lies fabricated by Diego Esquivel and Ramon Patuel in an attempt to draw shorter prison sentences for their own roles in the smuggling operation.
“These are desperate people willing to do desperate things,” Torres said.
“Everyone knows there’s (Border Patrol) sensors on the river, and there is no evidence that any load came in because of information provided by Ms. Esquivel,” Torres told the jury during his closing statement.
Torres characterized the discussions between Diego Esquivel and his client as “pillow talk” and said Raquel Esquivel was guilty only of loving Diego Esquivel.
The jury began its deliberations shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday.
The guilty verdict was returned about 12:30 p.m. Thursday.
Ludlum ordered Esquivel immediately taken into custody by the U.S. Marshal’s Service deputies.
Three of Esquivel’s co-defendants in the marijuana smuggling conspiracy – Diego Esquivel, Ramon Patuel and Shannon Pierce – also will be sentenced later this year, according to a press statement issued by the U.S. Attorney’s office in San Antonio Thursday.
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