Deputy quits as $1 million uncovered

Web Posted: 01/12/2007 10:42 PM CST

Jesse Bogan
Rio Grande Valley Bureau
McALLEN � A Hidalgo County patrol deputy resigned a few days after police in Georgia stopped him for a traffic violation and found nearly $1 million in cash hidden inside a duffle bag and the doors of a 2006 dually pickup he was driving.
Asked about the Jan. 6 incident, Sheriff Lupe Trevi�o, desensitized by corruption in the Valley, said it's a moot point because Emmanuel Sanchez quit Wednesday and no longer works under him.

What has been the response at the department?

"Not much at all," Trevi�o said. "Of course, I don't � at my level and with as many employees � have direct contact with the deputies. Through my contact, there hasn't been much said about it."

Police in Georgia released deputy Sanchez, who worked for the county three years and was off duty at the time, with a warning for the traffic violation and a receipt for $950,435. Should he claim the cash, he will have to prove in court that he legally obtained it.

Sanchez, 30, could not be reached for comment.

Georgia State Police spokesman Larry Schnall said troopers pulled Sanchez and another passenger over about 40 miles west of Atlanta on Interstate 20. When he was stopped, Sanchez initially showed them his peace officer's badge and then gave authorities permission to search the truck.

But, Schnall said, Sanchez became "combative" when the duffle bag was found in the back seat and he recanted his permission to continue the search. Troopers brought in a police dog that soon alerted them to the doors, which Schnall said gave troopers probable cause to continue the search.

"It's highly unusual for a person to be transporting nearly $1million hidden in the doors of a truck," Schnall said.

Sheriff Trevi�o said if the Georgia investigation reveals anything that needs to be addressed locally, his department will follow up, but no plans are in the works to launch an investigation.

"If he is indicted ... he should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and to include anyone else who conspired with him," Trevi�o said.

The Sheriff's Department has 731 employees, including 307 jailers and 288 sworn officers and 136 civilian officers.

In August, Louisiana State Police found about 65 pounds of cocaine in a vehicle occupied by 25-year-old Hidalgo County jailer Pedro Luis Longoria and Jo Ann Lopez, a county Head Start employee, according to KGBT Channel 4 in Harlingen.

"It's very disappointing when a policeman goes wrong, (but) it happens on all levels ... federal agents ... state troopers, county, city police. We have them in all ranks," Trevi�o said. "We have good reporters, we have bad reporters. It's in all professions."

In six mos. time, one of his deputies is caught with $1 million dollars cash, and a jailer is caught with 65 lbs. of cocaine.

Of course, these two could be the only 2 rotten apples in his department, but the sheriff shows little curiousity in finding out if there are others.

His lack of interest, is an argument for a state-wide grand jury, like S. Carolina has, to investigate crimes like these, when the local authorities show no interest.

both howard beele and the actor who played him have passed away.

Who knew this was a movie with both Paul Newman AND William Shatner? But also a movie for the acclaimed team of Rob Lowe and Jennifer Grey. And yet another movie with Antonio Banderas.

that's outrageous.

He found a fortune by Hooters' trash bin?

Web Posted: 02/04/2007 10:57 PM CST

Jesse Bogan
Rio Grande Valley Bureau
ALTON � In the wake of getting pulled over with nearly $1 million in cash stowed in his new pickup and his subsequent resignation as a Hidalgo County sheriff's deputy, Emmanuel Sanchez sheepishly tried to explain where the money came from.
His "head was just crazy" after he found the fortune near a Dumpster outside a Hooters restaurant in Atlanta, he said.

"Hiding it was my mistake," said Sanchez, 30, his voice trailing off. "But, oh well, it's rough."

Initially saying he didn't understand English, he granted an interview from his front yard in a neighborhood here bordered by orange groves.

Residences range from beaten-down trailers to posh homes like Sanchez's, which had a few late-model vehicles parked out front and a side building for cookouts where two men traded accordion riffs.

Georgia state police stopped Sanchez late at night Jan. 6 about 40 miles west of Atlanta on a busy interstate for not staying in his lane and having an improper trailer license tag light, according to an incident report.

He was pulling a trailer loaded with a small bulldozer called a Bobcat. Sanchez displayed his peace officer's badge and told a trooper he has a landscaping business, had bought the Bobcat on the Internet and was taking it back to the Rio Grande Valley.

But the story didn't jibe with that of his passenger, Eric Simon Vela, 28, who told police they were picking it up from Sanchez's uncle.

Sanchez denied there was anything illegal in the truck, a white 2006 F-350 dually, and said, "It's all yours," when asked if they could search it, according to the report.

Handed a consent form to sign, he asked if the search was really necessary. The state trooper assured him it was.

When officers found a black duffle bag on the back seat with $16,000 in loose currency, Sanchez got angry and withdrew consent to continue the search, according to the report. But K-9 Misty alerted to the doors, one of them noticeably heavier than normal, giving officers probable cause to search.

Police seized a total of $950,435, mostly in 20s, found in the truck. Sanchez told police he found it near a Dumpster at the restaurant.

He was let go with a warning on the traffic violation, but if he wants the money back, he will have to argue in court that he acquired it legally.

"I am going to check to get it back. I don't know," Sanchez said. "I haven't hired a lawyer."

He said he hid the loot because he knew if police found him with it, they would take it away.

Asked why he resigned from the sheriff's office afterwards, he said, "I never did anything bad at the county. I had already wanted to leave."

He's been a licensed peace officer since 1999. He briefly worked for the La Joya Police Department that year, then as a patrol officer the past three years at the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Department, where he took multiple courses through its academy on topics such as identity theft, special investigative topics, cultural diversity, and asset forfeiture, according to records on file at the Texas Commission On Law Enforcement Officer Standards And Education.

There were no records of any disciplinary action taken against Sanchez.

Sheriff Lupe Trevi�o said his department is cooperating with Georgia authorities and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

"We are doing a lot about it, but only so much can be said," Trevi�o said.

He said his office launched an "inquiry" into Sanchez's work history and friendships in the department. But apart from a brother who is a detention officer, he said, not many deputies knew Sanchez well.

"He didn't socialize with many people in the department," he said. "I guess he was really too preoccupied with his other endeavors, or the other whatever you want to call them."

Peter John Skandalakis, the district attorney for five counties south and west of Atlanta, including Carroll County, where Sanchez was pulled over on Interstate 20, said by phone that the highway is a common route for eastbound shipments of marijuana and the type of methamphetamine known as "Mexican ice."

Other South Texans arrested in Carroll County in recent months are Anselmo Contreras, 24, and Lucio Medina, 41, of Harlingen. They were arrested last August after deputies found a secret compartment in the tractor-trailer rig they were driving � but no currency or narcotics, according to the incident report.

Told of Sanchez's account of where he found the money, Skandalakis said, "I don't believe that for a second. It's too implausible."

Now that he's no longer a deputy, Sanchez said he might start selling used cars again, buying the vehicles from afar and bringing them to the border, which is a common business here. He said he planned to continue selling construction equipment and was optimistic that his landscaping business, San Co, would heat up when good weather returned.

He called off the interview when his family, including young children, arrived in a new SUV, parking near the white pickup that had been searched in Georgia, and according to records, was bought with financing there.

Who said dumpster diving doesn't pay?

JAS

... find it here:

My favorite new blog

I agree. Where can Texas find some of those vehicle-part weighing dogs? They sure would save a lot of unnecessary dismantling!

JAS

Can they do some forensic testing on the money to see if there's any chicken wing residue on it? That might be a way to prove it was from the Hooter's dumpster!

Hooters sells chicken wings?

quote:

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Hooters sells chicken wings?

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And Playboy has articles!

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And Playboy has articles!

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that's outrageous!