Teen died after drinking liquid methamphetamine

A Mexican high school student died from drinking highly concentrated liquid methamphetamine at a San Diego border crossing in an attempt to persuade inspectors that it was only apple juice, according to an autopsy report released Wednesday.

Cruz Marcelino Velazquez, 16, volunteered to take "a big sip" at the San Ysidro port of entry Nov. 18, the report said. He was then handcuffed and taken to a security office, where he began screaming in pain, said something about "the chemicals," and shouted, "My heart! My heart!" in Spanish, it added.

The San Diego County Medical Examiner's report gives no indication that inspectors asked him to drink the liquid and doesn't say if they had an opportunity to stop him when he volunteered. Velazquez died hours later at a hospital from acute methamphetamine intoxication.

Jackie Wasiluk, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the agency that oversees ports of entry, had no immediate comment on the findings

San Ysidro, the nation's busiest border crossing, has emerged as a major corridor for smuggling methamphetamine in the past five years as Mexico's Sinaloa cartel has increased its presence in the area. To avoid detection, crystal methamphetamine is dissolved in water and disguised in juice bottles, windshield wiper fluid containers and gas tanks. It is later converted back to crystals.

Children are caught with methamphetamine several times a week at San Diego crossings, an "alarming increase," Joe Garcia, assistant special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigations in San Diego, said in an interview last year. They are typically paid $50 to $200 a trip.

Velazquez, of Tijuana, raised the suspicions of an inspector in a pedestrian lane, who poured a capful of liquid on a counter because he thought it would immediately crystallize if it was methamphetamine, according to the autopsy report. The inspector smelled fruit and returned the boy's two bottles after the liquid didn't crystallize.

Inspectors also raised questions about whether Velazquez had been working in the U.S., which would violate terms of his visitor's visa, and ordered him to a separate area.  After he was asked again about the bottles, he drank the liquid.

The liquid in both bottles later tested positive for methamphetamine and the capful that the inspector poured on the counter eventually crystallized.

The inspector who poured the capful "was educated by his supervisor that this was not a proper or safe test for detecting methamphetamine," the report says.

Homer Resident Sentenced to 10 Years for Distributing Drugs to Teenage Girls and Possessing Child Pornography

ANCHORAGE—U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that a Homer charter boat captain was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for one consolidated count of distributing drugs to underage individuals and one count of possession of child pornography.
Randall Scott Hines, age 34, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess to 10 years’ imprisonment, to be followed by 10 years’ supervised release. Following his release from federal custody, Hines must register as a sex offender for 15 years.
In imposing the 10-year sentence on Hines, Judge Burgess stated that the facts Hines admitted in the plea agreement “underscore just how serious this offense was.” These facts included that between 2008 and 2011, Hines engaged in sexual relationships with a series of teenage girls in Homer. Hines frequently supplied these same girls with methamphetamine or other drugs, often in conjunction with having sex with them. Four of the six teenage girls with whom Hines had a sex and drug relationship were under the age of 16 at the time and thus were under Alaska’s legal age of consent.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim Sayers-Fay, who prosecuted the case, Hines’ 10-year sentence and 10-year period of supervised release reflects that his crimes involved a pattern of sexual abuse. Hines also pled guilty to possessing a sexually explicit video clip of him engaged in sex conduct with one of the minor victims. By virtue of that child pornography conviction, Hines will be required to register as a sex offender for 15 years following his release from federal custody.
During his sentencing remarks, Judge Burgess rejected the suggestion that Hines’ own methamphetamine addiction mitigated his culpability for his conduct. Judge Burgess told Hines, “[T]he bottom line is, in those instances that were outlined and detailed in the plea agreement in this case, there was one adult in the room. One adult. And that was you. You were the adult. I don’t care if you were drunk. I don’t care if you were on methamphetamine or oxycodone. You were the adult in the room, and you didn’t act like the adult in the room.” The judge added, “I hope this is a cautionary tale.”
Hines’ plea agreement required him to fund a $160,000 trust fund to help victims obtain drug treatment and counseling. Judge Burgess noted this positive step, but observed that it would not make amends for the crimes, which had “significant and devastating effect on the victims and their families,” many of whom had sought restraining orders against Hines. As one mother told the court, Hines’ “age and finesse” allowed him to manipulate young women who had “not yet developed the ability to discern or recognize the evilness of his ways.”
Ms. Loeffler commends the persistence of the victims and their families in this case, as well as the work of the FBI and Anchorage Police Department Vice Unit as part of the Innocence Lost Task Force, whose combined efforts culminated in Hines’ convictions.

United States Attorney Announces Gun, Child Pornography Charges Against Evansville Man

INDIANAPOLIS—Joseph H. Hogsett, the United States Attorney, announced today that Logan A. Wells, age 18, of Evansville, has been charged with possessing sexually explicit material involving minor children and with possessing a firearm as a drug abuser. This follows a collaborative investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Cyber Crimes Task Force, along with the Evansville Police Department Narcotics Task Force.
“The charges against this defendant allege a lifestyle of lawlessness that has no place in the Indiana,” Hogsett said. “Guns, drugs, and the exploitation of children are all scourges on this community, and our office is dedicated to holding accountable those who engage or encourage such criminal acts.”
The formal charges allege that on June 26, 2012, Wells was found by Vanderburgh County law enforcement to be in possession of a substantial number of images that depicted minor children engaging in sexually explicit conduct. These materials were allegedly saved on an Apple MacBook in the defendant’s home. The documents also allege that Wells was using marijuana when he was found by law enforcement and was in possession of a .22 caliber semiautomatic pistol in violation of federal law.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd S. Shellenbarger, who is prosecuting the case for the government, Wells faces a maximum of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine if he is found guilty on all counts. Under federal law, defendants must serve a minimum of 85 percent of their prison term inside a correctional facility. An initial hearing will be scheduled in Evansville before a U.S. Magistrate Judge.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual abuse.