Zetas Money Laundering Trial Sentencing Begins Tomorrow

by Havana and Chivis for BorderlandBeat.Com
Tomorrow will commence the sentencing phase for those convicted in the Zetas trial.  It will run through Friday in the Austin Federal courtroom presided by Judge Sam Sparks.  

Havana and I will be covering the sentencing phase ......

Judge Sam Sparks Western District Court-Austin Texas

Apparently the imaginative Judge Sam Sparks is intolerant both of courtroom BS and trickery but has demonstrated he is two scoops of humor and one scoop of WTH?  While I was researching for the sentencing coverage, I wanted a include backstory information about the judge.  What I found was multiple articles and posts of his unique brand of addressing courtroom shenanigans, or saying “knock it off!”  

The court order found below was subsequent to his finding the squabbling of the oppositional litigators childish, hence his brand of a court ordered hand slap.

The judge went so far as to recommend the parties retain new attorneys if their attorneys did not change their tactics.  What provoked Sparks antipathy, was a history of antagonistic courtroom motions and filings which were filled with personal insults and attacks that required multiple delays and hearings.

[I found this 2007 court order of Sparks'  on Above the Law website- an informative and entertaining website] click on images to enlarge

 

Here is the line up, notice that Nayen appears to have a separate sentencing, we are scratching our heads over that one.....could it be that the biggest violator cut a deal in exchange for loose lips?  Stay Tuned.

 

Jesse Huitron-The lone defendant found "Not Guilty"

 

Jesus “Jesse” Huitron, the lone defendant found not guilty in the trial, is the older  brother of Eusevio “Chevo” Huitron.  Chevo was found guilty, though Jesse is staunch in his support of his brother and believes an innocent man was convicted. 

The affable Jesse, was friendly towards reporters covering the case and personally bid farewell to each of them at the end of the trial. 

Havana and I were rooting for Jesse, early on it seemed that he was wrongly accused, having been swept up into the trial net, as the trial wore on it was evident the man spent his time with family and the profession he was passionate about, building houses, not in the interworking's of the Zetas horse racing scheme.  It seems that the men were caught in the whirlwind of the investigation. 

 

Shae Cox, former mentee of Eusevio Huitron, who described him as an incredibly hard working horse trainer with top horsemanship, while conceding his lack of education and refinement had held him back to some degree.

She described her experiences traveling with Huitron, training and racing horses on the quarter horse racing circuit. When asked about his honesty, Cox said, "He doesn't have time not to be honest."

 

Cox described straightening out a clerical mess, Chevo was entangles in regarding horses and their proper owners,  at Elgin Veterinary Clinic. It took days to untangle and organize, emphasizing that although Cox's former boss had no head for accounting, she still respected him enough to help him avoid problems in the future.

More than three decades ago, the Huitron family immigrated from ejido primero de mayo, a tiny town in northern Coahuila, just north of Monclova and south of Sabinas.  A town of small ranches a river and dusty landscape.  They migrated north for the same reasons most migrants go north, a better life. 

 

It was Jesse’s brother Chevo that was the quarter horseman.  Chevo was a gifted horse trainer, highly respected as such in the quarter racing network.  He trained horses for Dr. Charles Graham at the family business of Southwest Stallion Station.

Jazmine Ulloa, of the Austin Statesmen, sat down with Jesse for an interview.  The following is an excerpt:

"The late Señor Angeles — “May his soul rest in peace,” Jesse Huitron said, crossing himself — taught Eusavio Huitron how to raise and run horses. Jesse Huitron was not as passionate about champion stallions, preferring to work inside the man’s restaurant, washing dishes and sweeping floors.

His love was construction. He liked to build, use his hands. And though neither brother finished school past sixth grade, Jesse Huitron had a head for business.

In Austin, the brothers, both of whom entered the country legally and are U.S. residents, stayed with a relative and worked for a small company, painting garages and rain gutters. By 1986, Jesse Huitron had saved enough to buy his own paint sprayer machine. He then opened Huitron Painting.

 Eight years later, he established Huitron Homes, a remodeling firm that fixed up and resold houses across Central Texas. His clients praised his customer service, and with the businesses thriving, he and his brother moved their families to Seeling Drive just off U.S. 183 near the airport in Del Valle. Jesse Huitron moved into a mobile home; Eusavio Huitron moved into a brick house they renovated across the road.

Jesse Huitron had 12 children, his brother eight, and as they got older, Jesse Huitron wanted them to have a pastime that would keep them occupied and out of trouble. The brothers started buying and training American quarter horses in 2004."

To read Jazmine's full article Link here