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| We do not forgive. |
Hawfield, Mary Drew
Mary Drew Hawfield
Mrs. Hawfield, age 77, of 2415 Finchley Drive, Charlotte, NC, passed away Sunday, April 25, 2004 at her residence.A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 2nd at Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church in Fort Mill, SC, with Rev. Phil Lavender officiating.
Born February 26, 1926 in Ocala, FL, she was widowed by Paul Jackson 'Jack' Hawfield Sr. in 2001. Mrs. Hawfield was a secretary and bookkeeper for her husband's business, Armor Tread Tire, in Charlotte, NC. Mrs. Hawfield also owned Freelance Word Processors.
Survivors are her sons, Paul J. Hawfield, Jr. and Stephen D. Hawfield, both of Charlotte, NC; her daughter, Margaret 'Peggy' Hawfield Fenn of Concord, NC; her grandchildren, Jennifer Ann Fenn, Ryan Franklin Fenn, Karin Jo Caterson, Joshua Adam Hawfield and Jonathan Luke Hawfield; and her great grandchildren, Cara Caterson, Emily Fenn and Benjamin Caterson.
Wolfe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.
Jonathan Luke Hawfield arrested again for DWI. This loser has the longest criminal record in North Carolina!
NAME:
JONATHAN LUKE HAWFIELD
DATE:
10-23-2021
NUMBER:
113298
GENDER:
M
DOB:
06-18-1971
ADDRESS:
CHARLOTTE NC 28210
ALL MECKLENBURG CTY CHARGES:
DWLR IMPAIRED REV
FBI Agent John Shipley update: Reports point to ATF oversight and authorization of illegal rifle sale
August 17, 2012
Documents received and analyzed by Gun Rights Examiner this week continue to add credibility to the claims of John Shipley,
an FBI agent convicted of dealing in firearms without a license who has
insisted throughout his legal ordeal that he was merely an active
collector. Reports of Investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms and Explosives, in which they interviewed then-suspect Jonatan
Lopez, a Juarez, CH, resident who purchased a Barrett .50 caliber rifle
that was later recovered in Mexico,
provide significant corroborating details. The rifle had been
previously owned by Shipley, but was sold by him to a former deputy
sheriff who then sold it to Lopez, in a deal evidently brokered by an El
Paso Federal Firearms Licensee.
On Wednesday, this column walked through two documents illustrating how the gun was sold and physically transferred to Lopez, and how the money and proof of delivery, consisting of a photocopy of the buyer’s license and a handwritten acknowledgment of receipt, were then given to the seller where they were later recovered in a search of his home. Yesterday’s report laid out evidence that the dealer was cooperating with ATF and established that it was well within the capability and power of agents to arrest the traffickers and intercept the gun Shipley sold before it was smuggled into Mexico, something that was later exploited with great effect by the prosecution to condemn the defendant in the eyes of the jury.
Today’s installment runs through two more documents provided to Gun Rights Examiner by a source close to the Shipley case, ATF ROIs that detail how the sale of the Barrett went down, introduce us to a mysterious stranger, and demonstrate that the transaction must have been authorized by ATF agents who had been closely monitoring things with FFL cooperation. These reports have been posted to this correspondent’s Scribd account for reference.
Document #6 is a supplement to an April 7, 2008 interview of Lopez by ATF, wherein he provided information “regarding a .50 caliber rifle that he purchased from a white male, possibly matching the description of Shipley, in the parking lot of Collector’s Gun Exchange.” This did not pan out to be the case.
“Lopez was shown a photo lineup in an attempt to identify the person who delivered the Barrett,” the source explained. “John Shipley’s photograph was included in the lineup. Lopez did not identify anyone in the lineup as the supplier of the Barrett.
“This document is evidence that the ATF knew Lopez trafficked the Barrett to Mexico,” the source claimed, adding a startling fact that “he was never indicted or charged with it.
“ATF didn’t indict him or charge him because then the ATF would have to provide discovery material that showed [they] knew about, allowed and surveilled Lopez’s purchase and trafficking,” the source claimed. “This would prove that the United States Attorney’s Office lied to obtain a search warrant for John Shipley’s residence because they were trying to trace how the Barrett got to Mexico when they already knew how it got to Mexico.”
A report will be presented as a later installment in this series documenting that of all the firearms listed in the eventual indictment against Lopez, Barrett #20488 was not included, nor has he ever been charged with trafficking that particular gun to Mexico.
For now, so the pieces of the puzzle can be laid out before assembling the final picture, Document #7, the interview of Lopez, must be understood. It establishes the details of the parking lot sale, and the extent a cooperating FFL was involved. That’s very important, because had activities for this particular transaction not been approved and directed, there is no explanation for why ATF would allow a serious violation of the law to occur under their noses and just let it slide.
“In paragraph #5, Lopez tells the ATF that he heard through Paul Lee [the FFL and owner of Collector’s Gun Exchange] about the Barrett being for sale for $8,000,” the source points out. “If Paul Lee wasn’t acting under the authority of the ATF as an informant, this statement alone would make him guilty of conspiracy to traffic firearms to Mexico.
“The second sentence of paragraph #5 starts, ‘On the arranged day…,’” the source continued. “This tells you that Paul Lee had Lopez return to buy the gun.
“Lee did this to allow ATF to get permission to conduct a controlled delivery of the Barrett to Lopez,” the source deduced. “ATF needed time to have operations orders approved, and undercover agent ready to deliver the Barrett to Lopez and a surveillance team ready,” the source surmised, charging “ATF supplied the Barrett to Lopez and then allowed it to be trafficked to Mexico” and comparing the tactic to Operation Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious..
“If Paul Lee had the Barrett in his store and wasn’t assisting ATF, there would have been no need for Lopez to return ‘on an arranged day,’” the source argued. “Lopez states that Lee took his Texas driver’s license and made a photocopy. This is the receipt for the sale of the Barrett. If Lee was illegally selling…to a known subject of an ATF Mexican trafficking investigation who is not a legal U.S. citizen allowed to buy firearms, the last thing Lee would do is make a receipt to document his crime.
“Lee made this receipt for the ATF,” the source concluded. “It identifies the buyer and is evidence they can use to prosecute Lopez.”
“Lopez also states that he paid Lee ‘$8,000 in U.S. currency form his backpack and counted it out to Lee, who then made a telephone call to “someone” telling them that Lopez had just paid for the firearm,’” the source summarized. “Lopez has just told the ATF—who is supposedly looking for the person who sold the Barrett to Lopez—that he bought it from Lee.
“If Lee was acting without the knowledge of the ATF, he would have been arrested and Collector’s Gun Exchange would have been closed and seized,” the source observed. “This proves ATF was involved in the sale.
“The statement ‘counted it out to Lee who then made a telephone call to someone telling them Lopez had just paid for the firearm’ is critical,” the source explained. “Lee called the ATF a s part of the controlled delivery to have the undercover agent deliver the Barrett to Lopez. This also allowed the ATF to document, record and surveil Lopez accepting the Barrett and trafficking [it] to Mexico.
“This is the infamous ‘gun walking’ ATF was facilitating in Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious,” the source concluded.
The speculation is consistent with the documentation, and in the absence of additional evidence would appear to be the most plausible explanation. A question that will likely remain unanswered throughout this series of reports: Who was the person who handed the gun over to Lopez?
“Lopez went outside the store to the parking lot of Collector’s Gun Exchange where he met with a middle-aged, white male individual with a medium build, a slight pot belly and a medium complexion,” the ROI documents. “The male individual drove a silver hybrid, two-door Honda sedan. The male individual opened the trunk, retrieved a firearm case, and handed it to Lopez…The make Caucasian appeared to be in his 50’s with thin, graying hair wearing glasses.”
The next report in this series will focus on a lie told to the Shipley jury, how Shipley cooperated with investigators, how the judge made prejudicial media statements, what the law says, what the prosecutor said, and irrelevant “evidenced” introduced to gin up fear, loathing and a “guilty” verdict.
UPDATE: See next installment, "Documents show prejudicial tactics helped result in Shipley conviction."
On Wednesday, this column walked through two documents illustrating how the gun was sold and physically transferred to Lopez, and how the money and proof of delivery, consisting of a photocopy of the buyer’s license and a handwritten acknowledgment of receipt, were then given to the seller where they were later recovered in a search of his home. Yesterday’s report laid out evidence that the dealer was cooperating with ATF and established that it was well within the capability and power of agents to arrest the traffickers and intercept the gun Shipley sold before it was smuggled into Mexico, something that was later exploited with great effect by the prosecution to condemn the defendant in the eyes of the jury.
Today’s installment runs through two more documents provided to Gun Rights Examiner by a source close to the Shipley case, ATF ROIs that detail how the sale of the Barrett went down, introduce us to a mysterious stranger, and demonstrate that the transaction must have been authorized by ATF agents who had been closely monitoring things with FFL cooperation. These reports have been posted to this correspondent’s Scribd account for reference.
Document #6 is a supplement to an April 7, 2008 interview of Lopez by ATF, wherein he provided information “regarding a .50 caliber rifle that he purchased from a white male, possibly matching the description of Shipley, in the parking lot of Collector’s Gun Exchange.” This did not pan out to be the case.
“Lopez was shown a photo lineup in an attempt to identify the person who delivered the Barrett,” the source explained. “John Shipley’s photograph was included in the lineup. Lopez did not identify anyone in the lineup as the supplier of the Barrett.
“This document is evidence that the ATF knew Lopez trafficked the Barrett to Mexico,” the source claimed, adding a startling fact that “he was never indicted or charged with it.
“ATF didn’t indict him or charge him because then the ATF would have to provide discovery material that showed [they] knew about, allowed and surveilled Lopez’s purchase and trafficking,” the source claimed. “This would prove that the United States Attorney’s Office lied to obtain a search warrant for John Shipley’s residence because they were trying to trace how the Barrett got to Mexico when they already knew how it got to Mexico.”
A report will be presented as a later installment in this series documenting that of all the firearms listed in the eventual indictment against Lopez, Barrett #20488 was not included, nor has he ever been charged with trafficking that particular gun to Mexico.
For now, so the pieces of the puzzle can be laid out before assembling the final picture, Document #7, the interview of Lopez, must be understood. It establishes the details of the parking lot sale, and the extent a cooperating FFL was involved. That’s very important, because had activities for this particular transaction not been approved and directed, there is no explanation for why ATF would allow a serious violation of the law to occur under their noses and just let it slide.
“In paragraph #5, Lopez tells the ATF that he heard through Paul Lee [the FFL and owner of Collector’s Gun Exchange] about the Barrett being for sale for $8,000,” the source points out. “If Paul Lee wasn’t acting under the authority of the ATF as an informant, this statement alone would make him guilty of conspiracy to traffic firearms to Mexico.
“The second sentence of paragraph #5 starts, ‘On the arranged day…,’” the source continued. “This tells you that Paul Lee had Lopez return to buy the gun.
“Lee did this to allow ATF to get permission to conduct a controlled delivery of the Barrett to Lopez,” the source deduced. “ATF needed time to have operations orders approved, and undercover agent ready to deliver the Barrett to Lopez and a surveillance team ready,” the source surmised, charging “ATF supplied the Barrett to Lopez and then allowed it to be trafficked to Mexico” and comparing the tactic to Operation Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious..
“If Paul Lee had the Barrett in his store and wasn’t assisting ATF, there would have been no need for Lopez to return ‘on an arranged day,’” the source argued. “Lopez states that Lee took his Texas driver’s license and made a photocopy. This is the receipt for the sale of the Barrett. If Lee was illegally selling…to a known subject of an ATF Mexican trafficking investigation who is not a legal U.S. citizen allowed to buy firearms, the last thing Lee would do is make a receipt to document his crime.
“Lee made this receipt for the ATF,” the source concluded. “It identifies the buyer and is evidence they can use to prosecute Lopez.”
“Lopez also states that he paid Lee ‘$8,000 in U.S. currency form his backpack and counted it out to Lee, who then made a telephone call to “someone” telling them that Lopez had just paid for the firearm,’” the source summarized. “Lopez has just told the ATF—who is supposedly looking for the person who sold the Barrett to Lopez—that he bought it from Lee.
“If Lee was acting without the knowledge of the ATF, he would have been arrested and Collector’s Gun Exchange would have been closed and seized,” the source observed. “This proves ATF was involved in the sale.
“The statement ‘counted it out to Lee who then made a telephone call to someone telling them Lopez had just paid for the firearm’ is critical,” the source explained. “Lee called the ATF a s part of the controlled delivery to have the undercover agent deliver the Barrett to Lopez. This also allowed the ATF to document, record and surveil Lopez accepting the Barrett and trafficking [it] to Mexico.
“This is the infamous ‘gun walking’ ATF was facilitating in Wide Receiver and Fast and Furious,” the source concluded.
The speculation is consistent with the documentation, and in the absence of additional evidence would appear to be the most plausible explanation. A question that will likely remain unanswered throughout this series of reports: Who was the person who handed the gun over to Lopez?
“Lopez went outside the store to the parking lot of Collector’s Gun Exchange where he met with a middle-aged, white male individual with a medium build, a slight pot belly and a medium complexion,” the ROI documents. “The male individual drove a silver hybrid, two-door Honda sedan. The male individual opened the trunk, retrieved a firearm case, and handed it to Lopez…The make Caucasian appeared to be in his 50’s with thin, graying hair wearing glasses.”
The next report in this series will focus on a lie told to the Shipley jury, how Shipley cooperated with investigators, how the judge made prejudicial media statements, what the law says, what the prosecutor said, and irrelevant “evidenced” introduced to gin up fear, loathing and a “guilty” verdict.
UPDATE: See next installment, "Documents show prejudicial tactics helped result in Shipley conviction."
Oliver Stanley Kitzman and his son, Waller County Commissioner Staley (Stan) Kitzman. A closer look.
Chicken Ranch (Texas)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 29.91339°N 96.83475°W
The Chicken Ranch was an illegal but tolerated brothel in the U.S. state of Texas that operated from 1905 until 1973. It was located in Fayette County about 2.5 miles east of downtown La Grange. The business was established by Miss Jessie Williams, and was the basis for the 1978 Broadway musical and later movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Contents
Early history
The brothel that became the Chicken Ranch opened in La Grange in 1844. Run by a widow known as "Mrs. Swine," the brothel operated out of a hotel near the saloon and featured three young women from New Orleans, Louisiana. The ladies used the hotel lobby for entertaining and rented a room upstairs for conducting their business. The brothel was successful for over a decade, but was forced to close during the Civil War, when Swine and one of her prostitutes were forced to leave town as Yankees and American loyalists. After the war, prostitution was endemic in the local saloons, but no official records were kept.[1]Miss Jessie Williams
In 1905, Jessie Williams, known as "Miss Jessie," bought a small house along the banks of the Lower Colorado River and opened a brothel. Williams maintained a good relationship with local law enforcement and ensured that her house was respectable by excluding drunkards and admitting politicians and lawmen. After receiving word of an imminent crusade against the red-light district, Williams sold her house and purchased 10 acres (40,000 m2) just outside the city limits of La Grange, and only two blocks from the Houston-Austin highway. This would be the final location of the Chicken Ranch.[1]In 1917, the Chicken Ranch began advertising. Under the direction of two sisters who worked in the house, the prostitutes would send packages and letters to local men fighting in World War I. The advertising, as well as an increase in the number of people with automobiles, who could therefore travel further, helped to increase the traffic flow to the brothel. New rooms were added onto the house haphazardly to meet the demand.[1] The brothel "looked like a typical Texas farmhouse, with whitewashed siding and a few side buildings," which held the chickens. The entrance was located in the back of the house, and led to a house with fourteen rooms. No lights or signs indicated that the building housed a brothel.[2]
Every evening, the local sheriff, Will Loessin, would visit the Chicken Ranch to learn the latest gossip and find out if any of the patrons had boasted of crimes. Many local crimes were solved with information gained from these visits. Inside the house, Williams ensured that no further crimes occurred. She often paced the halls, and if she heard anything that suggested one of the customers was bothering a prostitute, Williams would chase him out of the house with an iron rod in her hand.[1]
During the Great Depression, Williams was forced to lower the prices she charged. As the Depression lingered, the number of customers dwindled, and Williams had difficulty making ends meet for her employees. She implemented the "poultry standard," charging one chicken for each sexual act. The number of chickens at the brothel exploded, and soon the place became known as the Chicken Ranch. Williams supplemented her income by selling surplus chickens and eggs.[1]
In 1946, a new sheriff, T.J. Flournoy, took office. He immediately had a direct telephone line installed at the Chicken Ranch so that he could continue his predecessor's tradition of gaining information from the brothel, but without the hassle of traveling to the brothel each evening.[1]
Edna Milton
Williams began suffering from acute arthritis in the 1950s, and in 1952 turned over the running of the ranch to a young prostitute named Edna Milton. After Williams died in 1961, Milton purchased the property,[1] which she officially renamed Edna's Fashionable Ranch Boarding House.[2] Milton maintained many of Williams's rules for the girls. They were prohibited from drinking or getting tattoos, and were not allowed to visit the bars or cafes in town. Before beginning their employment, the prostitutes were fingerprinted and photographed by Flournoy and underwent a background check. After beginning work, they were required to see the doctor in town weekly for a checkup.[2] To encourage support from the townspeople, supplies were bought from local stores on a rotating basis. Milton also contributed to local civic causes, becoming one of La Grange's largest philanthropists.[1]The Chicken Ranch was highly successful. In the 1950s the Ranch employed sixteen prostitutes. On weekends there was often a line of men, mostly students or soldiers from nearby military bases, at the door. One base supplied a helicopter for soldiers to use for transportation to the ranch. Students at Texas A&M University also made an unofficial tradition of sending freshmen to the Chicken Ranch for inititation.[1] The Chicken Ranch was preferred because many of the girls were allegedly University of Texas coeds.[2][3]
Each prostitute would have between five and twenty customers per day. In the 1950s, they were charged $15 for fifteen minutes ($131 in today's terms).[1] The employees were required to give 75% of their earnings to Milton, who paid for all of their living and medical expenses. At its peak in the 1960s, the ranch earned more than $500,000 per year ($3.7 million in today's terms), with the prostitutes keeping an additional $300 per week for themselves ($2,200 in today's terms).[2]
Edna Milton Chadwell died in Phoenix, Arizona at the age of 82, on February 25, 2012.[4]
Closure
In November 1972, the Texas Department of Public Safety surveilled the Chicken Ranch for two days, documenting 484 people entering the Chicken Ranch. At the request of a member of the Texas DPS intelligence team, local law enforcement closed the Chicken Ranch down for a short time. It reopened, and in July 1973 Houston television reporter Marvin Zindler began an investigation of the Chicken Ranch. Zindler claimed for many years that he began the investigation because of an anonymous tip. Later in his autobiography, Zindler admitted that he did his exposé after two college students—Peggy Meek (Venable) and Bill Boe—wrote an article on the Chicken Ranch which landed them an Intercollegiate Press Award. Governor Dolph Briscoe closed the operation, only to have it open again after a few months. Then Zindler stepped in to shed more light on the operation, which led to its being closed for good.[5]In 2005, during the interview with KTRK News in Houston, Zindler said: "Now, 25 years ago I told a little fib when I said I got into the act because of an anonymous tip. The tip was actually a phone call from the office of the Texas Attorney General John Hill. Hill asked the chief of his organized crime division Tim James to get me involved in closing the Chicken Ranch." Tim James was in the office when Attorney General Hill asked Fayette County District Attorney, Oliver Kitzman, to close the Chicken Ranch. Hill explained the interest of the DPS and the Attorney General had in seeing that any organized crime was shut down. The response from Kitzman was, 'There's nothing that the people in this county want to do about it, Mr. Hill. There's nothing that we're going to do about it. It's not of great concern to the people who've elected me,' said the DA. Hill then told Zindler, that he was paraphrasing a little bit, but basically what Kitzman told Hill was, 'And if your or your people come down here, I'll be the one investigating you!' That's when the Attorney General Hill suggested that Zindler be called.[6]
Tim James called Zindler in the hopes that the television personality could apply the right kind of pressure to get the ranch shut down. Zindler interviewed Kitzman, who admitted to knowing about the Chicken Ranch, but claimed that he had never tried to close down the brothel because "we have never had any indication by anyone that these places are a problem to law enforcement."[6] Sheriff T.J. Flournoy, who had overseen the La Grange area for 27 years, denied that the Chicken Ranch was involved in organized crime, and denied that he had been bribed to keep the place open. Zindler approached Texas Governor Dolph Briscoe about the matter. After a very brief investigation, which found no evidence of a link to organized crime,[1] Briscoe and Texas Attorney General John Hill ordered the Chicken Ranch to be permanently closed.[6]
The actual closing was very painless. On August 1, 1973, Flournoy called Milton and told her that she was no longer allowed to operate. A handmade sign on the building blamed Zindler for the closing.[6] Flournoy then went to Austin to meet with the governor, armed with a petition opposing the closure and carrying 3,000 signatures. Briscoe refused to meet with him.[1]
Legacy
For two years after the Chicken Ranch was closed, potential customers continued to arrive. The house was purchased by two Houston lawyers. In 1977 part of the house and the original furniture were moved to Dallas, where it was opened as a restaurant, with Milton as the hostess. The restaurant closed in 1978.[1]In 1979, Miss Edna opened a bar on Lemon Avenue in Dallas also named The Chicken Ranch. Business was not good, and the bar closed sometime in 1980.
The Texas Chicken Ranch is the basis for the 1978 Broadway musical and later movie The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. It also inspired the ZZ Top song "La Grange".
Walmart heiress, Alice Walton arrested on another DWI in Texas
WEATHERFORD - According to a statement released by a family spokesman, Walmart heiress and Parker County resident Alice Walton, arrested on a charge of DWI last week, accepts full responsibility for the incident.
“Ms. Walton was pulled over by a patrolman with the Department of Public Safety for driving 71 mph in an unattended 55 mph construction zone,” Walton’s attorney, Dee J. Kelly, said in a statement. “She was returning home from a birthday dinner with friends at a Fort Worth restaurant. She accepts full responsibility for this unfortunate incident and deeply regrets it.”
Walton was stopped on Interstate 20 in a construction zone near South Main Street in Weatherford for a traffic violation shortly after 10 p.m. by Trooper Jeff Davis, according to Senior Trooper Gary Rozzell.
“Through an investigation at the scene, [Walton] was determined to be intoxicated during a field sobriety test,” Rozzell said.
Walton refused a breath test, according to Rozzell.
She was arrested for driving while intoxicated, first offense, a class B misdemeanor, and transported to the Parker County Jail, Rozzell said.
According to jail records, Walton was booked into jail shortly after 11 p.m. Friday, October 7, 2011 and released on $1,000 bond around 8:40 a.m. Saturday.
Walton was convicted of driving while intoxicated in 1998 in Springdale, Ark.
According to an Associated Press report of the trial, police officers testified Walton repeatedly refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test after being involved in a crash with a gas meter and telephone box.
One officer testified she asked if he knew who she was and knew her last name, according to the AP story.
After being released by police in Arkansas, Walton reportedly requested a blood test, which showed Walton’s blood-alcohol level at 0.16.
However, Walton testified she had had a few drinks but wasn’t drunk, according to the AP account.
Walton was also involved in crash that resulted in the death of a 50-year-old pedestrian in 1989, according to other news accounts.
No charges were filed in that case.
BREAKING NEWS:
Millsap, Texas
Alice Walton, the Wal-Mart heiress whose brainchild Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opens next month in Bentonville, was arrested for DWI in Texas on Friday, according to police.
Walton, a resident of Millsap, Texas, spent part of her 62nd birthday in the Parker County Jail after being arrested by a Texas Highway Patrol trooper on the charge. On Saturday, she was released on a $1,000 bond.
The newspaper said Trooper Jeff Davis stopped Walton on Interstate 20 in a construction zone near South Main Street in Weatherford for a traffic violation shortly after 10 p.m.
Walton was alleged to be driving 71 mph in a 55-mph zone.
"Through an investigation at the scene, [Walton] was determined to be intoxicated during a field sobriety test," police told the newspaper.
Wal-Mart Heiress Walton Guilty of Drunken Driving
May 30, 1998| From Associated PressSPRINGDALE, Ark. — Billionaire Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton was convicted Friday on all four counts in a drunken driving case and could be sent to jail for a year when she is sentenced July 2.
Walton, worth $6.3 billion and listed by Forbes magazine as America's second-richest woman--behind her mother--could have simply paid $650 to settle the case but chose instead to fight the charges with a pair of attorneys.
Walton, 48, frowned slightly as the judge's decision became apparent, but she later said she had no regrets about the trial.
Walton, daughter of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. founder Sam Walton, crashed her car Jan. 27 near her home. She broke her nose when her car hit a gas meter and a telephone box. Walton testified that she had had a few drinks but wasn't drunk.
Her attorneys argued that the crash could have been caused by fatigue after a full day of business meetings.
Police officers testified that Walton repeatedly refused to submit to a blood-alcohol test.
"She turned back to me and said, 'Do you know who I am? Do you know my last name?' " Police Officer Charles Motsinger testified.
Walton said she did not recall making those statements but said, "Officer Motsinger was very ugly to me."
After she was released by police, Walton returned to the hospital and requested a blood test. A hospital worker said Walton's blood-alcohol level registered 0.16. The legal limit in Arkansas is 0.10.
Municipal Judge Stanley Ludwig found Walton guilty of driving while intoxicated, refusing to take a blood-alcohol test at the request of police, driving without a seat belt and failing to properly maintain control of her vehicle.
The Brownsville Herald--Grand jury indicts two more
June 23, 2011 10:12 PM
The Brownsville Herald
Two more indictments have been handed down in the Abel C. Limas racketeering case with a married couple now facing wire fraud charges.
Karina and Armando Peña, address unknown, are accused of providing $1,800 in bribes to Limas, then the 404th state district judge in Cameron County, in exchange for Limas allowing Armando Peña to report to his probation officer by mail.
The couple appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio on a count of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud.
Karina Peña’s bail was set at $25,000. Armando Peña was ordered held without bail. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
According to the indictment, the Peñas provided the money to Limas with Jose Manuel Longoria acting as a middleman.
The indictment states that the Peñas along with Longoria and Limas “did intentionally and knowingly transmit and caused to be transmitted, by means of wire communications in interstate commerce, approximately $1,800, from Arkansas, to Cameron County, Texas, for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice.”
Court documents state Karina Peña asked Longoria over the phone to help her husband obtain court authorization to report by mail to his state probation officer rather than in person.
According to the indictment, in March 2006 Armando Peña was sentenced to eight years’ probation following his conviction for aggravated assault. He was ordered to report monthly, in person, to his probation officer.
Without authorization, Armando Peña moved to Arkansas, the indictment states. He transferred $1,800 to Longoria to be used “in part to bribe Judge Abel Corral Limas in return for Limas’ order to allow him to report to his probation officer by mail,” the indictment reads.
The FBI obtained Western Union records showing that $1,800 was sent on April 24, 2008, from Armando Peña in Hot Springs, Ark., to a relative of Longoria in Harlingen.
Court records indicate that on April 23, Limas contacted Armando Peña’s probation officer and ordered that the defendant be allowed to report by mail. On May 13, 2008, Limas signed an order modifying the probation judgment, the documents show.
The Penas are the latest individuals to be indicted in connection with the Limas racketeering case. Brownsville attorney Ray Ramon Marchan was also indicted this week on racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, aiding and abetting extortion, and aiding and abetting wire fraud charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Also indicted this week was Francisco "Pancho" Cisneros, 47, of Brownsville, a bail bondsman charged with conspiracy to extort and aiding and abetting extortion. He will appear in court today.
Limas pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Former state Rep. Jim Solis and Jose Manuel Longoria were also indicted earlier this year.
Solis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Longoria pleaded not guilty to charges with extortion, wire fraud and drug-related offenses. His trial is pending.
Lmartinez@brownsvilleherald.com
Karina and Armando Peña, address unknown, are accused of providing $1,800 in bribes to Limas, then the 404th state district judge in Cameron County, in exchange for Limas allowing Armando Peña to report to his probation officer by mail.
The couple appeared Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Felix Recio on a count of aiding and abetting honest services wire fraud.
Karina Peña’s bail was set at $25,000. Armando Peña was ordered held without bail. Both are scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.
According to the indictment, the Peñas provided the money to Limas with Jose Manuel Longoria acting as a middleman.
The indictment states that the Peñas along with Longoria and Limas “did intentionally and knowingly transmit and caused to be transmitted, by means of wire communications in interstate commerce, approximately $1,800, from Arkansas, to Cameron County, Texas, for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice.”
Court documents state Karina Peña asked Longoria over the phone to help her husband obtain court authorization to report by mail to his state probation officer rather than in person.
According to the indictment, in March 2006 Armando Peña was sentenced to eight years’ probation following his conviction for aggravated assault. He was ordered to report monthly, in person, to his probation officer.
Without authorization, Armando Peña moved to Arkansas, the indictment states. He transferred $1,800 to Longoria to be used “in part to bribe Judge Abel Corral Limas in return for Limas’ order to allow him to report to his probation officer by mail,” the indictment reads.
The FBI obtained Western Union records showing that $1,800 was sent on April 24, 2008, from Armando Peña in Hot Springs, Ark., to a relative of Longoria in Harlingen.
Court records indicate that on April 23, Limas contacted Armando Peña’s probation officer and ordered that the defendant be allowed to report by mail. On May 13, 2008, Limas signed an order modifying the probation judgment, the documents show.
The Penas are the latest individuals to be indicted in connection with the Limas racketeering case. Brownsville attorney Ray Ramon Marchan was also indicted this week on racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, aiding and abetting extortion, and aiding and abetting wire fraud charges. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Also indicted this week was Francisco "Pancho" Cisneros, 47, of Brownsville, a bail bondsman charged with conspiracy to extort and aiding and abetting extortion. He will appear in court today.
Limas pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.
Former state Rep. Jim Solis and Jose Manuel Longoria were also indicted earlier this year.
Solis pleaded guilty to a charge of aiding and abetting and is scheduled to be sentenced in August.
Longoria pleaded not guilty to charges with extortion, wire fraud and drug-related offenses. His trial is pending.
Lmartinez@brownsvilleherald.com
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