[Texas:]Accused gang member worked for public defenders' office

Corpus Christi Caller-Times/AP ^ | February 12, 2008

[SwinneySwitch]

EL PASO — A woman accused of having ties to the violent Barrio Azteca gang worked for years in the Federal Public Defender's office, officials said.

Sandy Valles New, 57, was arrested last week as part of a federal racketeering case targeting members and associates of the Barrio Azteca gang.

FBI agents believe New has been an associate of the gang since 2000 and was known as "Guera" and "Cunada."

From 1996 to 2002, New worked as a paralegal and in the investigations section at the El Paso office, Federal Public Defender Henry J. Bemporad said Monday.

FBI spokeswoman Special Agent Andrea Simmons said she could not discuss New's alleged links to the gang or whether those were related to her employment with the Federal Public Defender's office because the indictment remains sealed.

New, who has an address in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, was arrested at the border crossing by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Court records did not show an attorney for New.

More than a dozen people have been indicted in the ongoing racketeering case. The 11-count indictment alleges that Barrio Azteca members were involved in drug trafficking, extortion and at least one murder.

Manuel "Tolon" Cardoza, a suspected Barrio Azteca gang captain, is the latest person named as part of the indictment. Cardoza is imprisoned in east Texas, the FBI said Monday.

Federal investigators have said Barrio Azteca partnered with the violent Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel in Ciudad Juarez, the Mexican city across the Rio Grande from El Paso. The gang allegedly provided security for the cartel in exchange for a discount on narcotics.

[WayneS]

Eets not a Gang, eets a Cluuuub.

SNL - 1977?

[SwinneySwitch]

Paso Ping!

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