MP AWAITS COURT DECISION ON DRUG CHARGES

An investigating hearing officer should decide by Tuesday whether to
recommend that a Fort Bragg military police officer go before a general
court-martial on charges of using and distributing drugs.

Spc. Robert Ybarra, who is 22, is charged with three counts of distributing
ecstasy, using ecstasy and communicating a threat.

He is also charged with using LSD and marijuana. Those two charges had not
previously been made public.

Ybarra, who is from San Jose, Calif., is assigned to the 65th Military
Police Company at Fort Bragg.

On Wednesday, military officials held an Article 32 hearing to hear
evidence in Ybarra's case. An Article 32 is similar to a civilian grand
jury. The investigating officer, Maj. Stephan Deville, will make his
recommendations to Lt. Gen. Dan McNeill, who will decide if the case goes
to court-martial.

An Army investigator and two MPs testified during the hearing about MP drug
use in December and January at It'z, a popular Fayetteville nightclub.

Spc. Albert Hazzard, an undercover Army investigator, testified that an
informant he was with bought ecstasy from Ybarra on two occasions.

Hazzard said the first time was on Jan. 26 at It'z on Legend Road. Hazzard
said the informant bought 10 ecstasy pills for $250 inside the club.
Hazzard was in the parking lot at the time.

Hazzard said the second transaction was the following day at Ybarra's house
on Woodberry Drive in Raeford. Hazzard said he remained in the car while
the informant went inside. When Ybarra came out of the house, Hazzard gave
him $175 for five ecstasy pills, Hazzard said.

Hazzard said the informant, who had gone into Ybarra's house, told him that
Ybarra took out a 9 mm pistol, pulled the slide exposing a bullet, and
said: "If this (expletive) is a CID agent, I'm gonna kill him and then you."

Focus On Informant

Ybarra is represented by Capt. Thomas Thompson. Throughout the proceeding,
Thompson questioned the credibility of the informant and why his name was
kept secret. Thompson said the informant is well-known and his name appears
in court papers.

Thompson wanted an opportunity to question the informant.

"The defense wants an opportunity to cross-examine him instead of just
using statements," he said.

Capt. Alyssa Schwenk, the prosecutor, argued that the informant's identity
is protected under Army investigation regulations. Schwenk said it would
require an order from a military judge to make the informant available for
questioning.

Witness Testifies

Spc. Jillian Torres, an MP who received an Article 15 for using ecstasy on
Dec. 29 at It'z, testified that she went to the club that night with a
group of nine after a barbecue at her house.

They went to the club in Ybarra's Ford Explorer, which Torres was driving.
They stopped at a gas station on Cliffdale Road to get gas and money,
Torres said.

She testified that in the car, Ybarra, Spc. Lisandro Grullon and Spc. Jason
Jones talked about buying ecstasy.

Grullon, an MP, is also charged with using LSD, distributing ecstasy and
using ecstasy. The Fort Bragg public affairs office said Wednesday they did
not know if Jones had been charged.

Torres said that when they got to the club, the group went inside while
Ybarra, Jones and a third person she does not remember went to buy the drug.

"They were going to meet Mike to get ecstasy," she said.

Mike, she said, was a bouncer at a strip club.

"That's where they went to buy it," she said.

Later that evening, Torres said her husband gave her ecstasy at the club
and she took it. She said it was the first time she had taken the drug.

Torres said she never saw Ybarra using or selling drugs at her house.
Ybarra, a friend of her husband's, was living at the couple's house in
Raeford at the time.

Ybarra denied using or selling drugs at her house when she confronted him,
she said.

Spc. India Gordon, who is also an MP, received immunity for her testimony.

She said she has known Ybarra since last July and had dated him in the
past. She testified she never saw Ybarra use or sell drugs.

Gordon said that on one occasion when Ybarra was at her house, Jones
brought marijuana inside and gave it to Ybarra.

"I told them they couldn't have it here," she said. "It was in a bag and
they left."

She said Ybarra and Jones also had a conversation about the effects of
ecstasy and acid.

Gordon said she was with the group that went to It'z in December. She said
she was drunk, but she said she did not take ecstasy.

She said she didn't see anyone use or give money to buy ecstasy that night.

Thompson asked that Jones appear in court.

"I believe he has information that can exonerate my client," Thompson said.
Thompson said he made the request last week.

Schwenk said she opposed it and that Jones is unavailable. She said she
believes he is stationed in Europe.

Deville, the investigating officer, called for a break to see if the
prosecution could locate and reach Jones. It could not.

Court-Martial Urged

During closing arguments, Schwenk said Ybarra's case should proceed to
court-martial.

"For the type of offenses that are charged and the circumstances
surrounding them, it is clear this needs to go before a general
court-martial," she said.

But Thompson said the government failed to prove that Ybarra used or
distributed drugs.

"There was no evidence presented that Spc. Ybarra used LSD or marijuana,"
Thompson said. "No one has ever seen him use drugs other than a CID source
who has not testified or been cross-examined to see if he is credible."

Ybarra was one of 11 MPs investigated for alleged drug use. The
investigation began April 26.

Grullon, who is 24, has been arraigned. He goes before a bad conduct
discharge court-martial Sept. 19.

Nine other MPs, all from the 16th Military Police Brigade, will receive
lesser punishments for using ecstasy, LSD or marijuana, officials said.
Their names have not been released.

One of those MPs, who turned down his punishment, will have his case
referred to an evidence hearing.