The Associated Press
Charges against Mexican military personnel are rare. Most cases involving active duty personnel are handled by military courts, which give little, if any, information about their resolution. Here are some of the key cases, either federal or military, involving charges against Mexican military officers or troops:
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GEN. JESUS GUTIERREZ REBOLLO
Case: In February 1997, two months after being named head of Mexico’s anti-drug agency, Gutierrez Rebollo was arrested after he was found living in a luxury apartment owned by cocaine kingpin Amado Carrillo Fuentes. A federal court convicted the three-star general of drug trafficking, racketeering and corruption and sentenced him to 40 years in prison.
Outcome: The 79-year-old general died of cancer at a military hospital in 2013, shortly after a court ruled he could serve the remainder of his sentence at home due to his poor health and advanced age.
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BRIG. GEN. MARIO ARTURO ACOSTA CHAPARRO
Case: Acosta Chaparro was jailed in 2000 on charges of protecting drug lord Amado Carrillo Fuentes, who died three years earlier after botched plastic surgery. In 2002, the retired general also was accused in the killings and disappearances of leftist activists and revolutionaries during Mexico’s “dirty war” of the 1970s and ’80s.
Outcome: Federal tribunal cleared him of the charges in 2007. In 2012, he died after being shot by gunmen while at a Mexico City auto shop.
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GEN. TOMAS ANGELES DAUAHARE
Case: Retired army Gen. Tomas Angeles Dauahare, a former assistant defense secretary, was arrested in 2012 for allegedly aiding the Beltran Leyva drug cartel.
Outcome: Angeles Dauahare was freed in 2013 after federal prosecutors dropped the charges due to questions about witness testimony against him.
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FIVE ARMY OFFICERS-BELTRAN LEYVA CARTEL
Case: In 2012, federal prosecutors accused three army generals and two other officers of aiding the Beltran Leyva drug cartel.
Outcome: All five were ordered released in 2013 after prosecutors decided witness testimony against them was insufficient to prove guilt.
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KILLING OF JOSEPH PROCTOR
Case: In August 2010, Mexican soldiers killed Joseph Proctor, a 32-year-old New York native, at a roadblock near his home north of Acapulco. The military said the construction worker tried to attack the soldiers with an AR-15 rifle. His family fought the claim and pressed for an investigation. Weeks later, the Mexican Defense Department released a report to his mother, Donna Proctor, saying three soldiers were charged in the death.
Outcome: No information has been released. Donna Proctor said Friday the last information she had came in 2012, when she was told that two soldiers accused of shooting her son remained jailed pending a military trial and that authorities released two others who allegedly ordered the weapon be planted.
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KILLING OF VICENTE AND ALEJANDRO DE LEON
Case: In September 2010, Vicente De Leon and his 15-year-old son Alejandro were killed when soldiers shot at their car as it passed a military convoy in Nuevo Leon state. Five other passengers, including children ages 8 and 9, were wounded. Military prosecutors charged three officers and a captain.
Outcome: No information has been released. In a 2011 report, Human Rights Watch said the military declined to discuss details of the case.
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