FLIP TO DRUG TRADE GETS NARCOTICS TASK FORCE DEPUTY EIGHT YEARS

A former narcotics task force deputy who admitted using his position
to squeeze money from drug dealers was sentenced Friday to eight
years and four months in federal prison followed by 200 hours of
community service after his release.

Julio Alfonso Lopez, 46, of Zapata, pleaded guilty in July 2006 to
extorting $44,500 from drug traffickers to "protect" drug loads
coming through Zapata County on the Mexican border.

Meliton Valadez, 33, who pleaded guilty to acting as the middle man
between drug traffickers and Lopez, was sentenced to six years and
six months in federal prison followed by 150 hours of community
service. Valadez also is from Zapata.

FBI investigators in Laredo showed Valadez took cash from drug
dealers on four occasions between July 2005 and April 2006.

In exchange, Lopez used his influence as deputy commander of the
Laredo Multi-Agency Narcotics Task Force to keep law enforcement
away from what he believed to be cocaine loads totaling more than
100 kilograms clearing the county.

Lopez had been deputy commander for about a year when FBI agents
arrested him in April 2006. He had worked in law enforcement for 26
years, mostly as an investigator for the Zapata County attorney's
office, before joining the task force of agencies in Webb and Zapata
counties. He is the brother of state District Judge Joe Lopez.

Defense attorney Octavio Salinas said Lopez accepted his
responsibility and pleaded guilty rather than put his family through a trial.

"He had just gotten a divorce and he started abusing alcohol and
substances," Salinas said. "Obviously he lost his good judgment and
during this time period he got into the FBI sting and fell into the trap."

Salinas called the crime "fabricated" because the investigators
nabbed Lopez on make-believe shipments.

Lopez is free on bond until a prison date is set. Valadez previously
had his bond revoked for failing to submit to drug testing and counseling.