SOMBRERO INCIDENT TO GET FEDERAL REVIEW
U.S. Attorney 'Troubled' By Report Of Agent's Photo Of Drug Trafficking Suspect

RALEIGH - A federal review was launched Friday into an incident in
which a Drug Enforcement Administration agent forced a drug
trafficking suspect to pose for a photograph wearing a sombrero and
holding a Mexican flag. George Holding, the U.S. attorney for the
Eastern District of North Carolina, announced in a news release
Friday that he was "troubled" by an article in Thursday's News &
Observer about the case. He has asked the Department of Justice,
which oversees both the U.S. Attorney's Office and the DEA, to
determine whether Jorge Hernandez-Villalvazo's civil rights were
violated. "Regardless of what crime an individual may have committed,
all are entitled to humane and respectful treatment by the criminal
justice system," Holding stated. Although the photograph was taken in
the spring of 2005, its existence wasn't made public until this week.

The DEA has not released the agent's name, in line with its policy
not to identify agents in most situations. The federal agency is
doing its own investigation into the circumstances surrounding the
photograph, said Ruth Porter-Whipple, an Atlanta-based spokeswoman
for the federal agency. The agent worked from the DEA's office on
Falls of Neuse Road in Raleigh at the time of the incident.

"We're gathering information," she said. When asked whether the agent
was still performing regular duties as a DEA agent, Porter-Whipple
declined to comment.

She did say the photograph was not submitted as evidence in the
initial criminal case and said it no longer exists.

"We don't have the picture any longer," she said.
Hernandez-Villalvazo, 41, was arrested in April 2005 and subsequently
taken to the DEA office, his attorney Jeff Cutler said this week.
Hernandez-Villalvazo was one of seven people arrested and facing
criminal charges in the Wake County Courthouse in connection with a
drug-trafficking ring uncovered through court-ordered wiretaps of
several phone lines. The investigation was a joint venture of local
and federal law enforcement. Hernandez-Villalvazo, a native of Mexico
who has permanent resident status in the United States, spent more
than two years in the Wake County jail awaiting his trial.

It was in the Raleigh DEA office that Hernandez-Villalvazo said a
sombrero was put on his head and a Mexican flag placed in his hand
while a picture was taken of him, Cutler said. Hernandez-Villalvazo
felt humiliated, Cutler said. On May 3, the existence of the
photograph was confirmed to Cutler. Hernandez-Villalvazo -- who had
said he was innocent of the drug charges -- was immediately offered a
plea deal that allowed him to walk out of jail the next day.

Hernandez-Villalvazo pleaded guilty to conspiracy to deal drugs under
an Alford agreement, which allows suspects to avoid admitting they
committed a crime. The photograph was not submitted as part of the
evidence for the drug trafficking case, and neither the Wake County
prosecutor nor the lead detective on the case with the Wake County
Sheriff's Office knew about it until Cutler started asking questions.