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Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Aragon's Brother Sentenced
By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau
LAS CRUCES — A federal judge Tuesday sentenced the brother of disgraced political heavyweight Manny Aragon to five years in prison for his part in a drug-smuggling operation.
Charles Aragon, 53, had pleaded guilty in August to one count of possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. Federal prosecutors sought a 10-year sentence for Aragon, who had been convicted twice before in drug-trafficking cases and three times for driving under the influence.
Last October in an unrelated case, former state Sen. Manny Aragon pleaded guilty to public corruption charges in the Metro Courthouse construction scandal in Albuquerque. Sentencing is pending, but he and prosecutors agreed that his prison term would not exceed five years and seven months.
In his case, Charles Aragon was arrested June 9, 2008, after Border Patrol agents staffing a checkpoint on Interstate 10 west of Las Cruces found 555 pounds of marijuana with an estimated street value of $444,000 in a trailer he was hauling to Deming.
Aragon and his attorney, Steve Sosa, sought leniency from U.S. District Judge John Conway, arguing Tuesday that Aragon was a "minor participant" in the drug-trafficking scheme and that he only got involved because of growing financial pressures.
"He did this one act to try to better his financial position, and it went terribly wrong for him," Sosa said.
Aragon told the judge that in the period before he agreed to haul a load of marijuana, he struggled with a number of personal difficulties. He said he suffered a "mental collapse" after the death of his mother, and he had been fired from a longtime job with the Bernalillo County Clerk's Office in the fall of 2007. He also said he fell behind on bills and was facing foreclosure on his house.
"I did everything I could to save my home," Aragon said. Later, he added, "I know I'm guilty of this crime, and all I do is ask for mercy, your honor."
In a sentencing memorandum, the U.S. Attorney's Office noted that Charles Aragon was sentenced to three years in prison after his 1978 conviction for possession of marijuana with intent to distribute. In late 1990, five years after parole ended for the earlier conviction, he became part of the Mexican Mafia and operated a large-scale drug trafficking organization that moved more than 22,000 pounds of marijuana over several years through the U.S. In 1992, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in that conspiracy.
"Thank you, your honor, and God bless you," Aragon told the judge after receiving the five-year prison sentence Tuesday.
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