EX-COMMISSIONER SENT TO PRISON

Drug Trafficking Gets Man 9 Years

SAN ANTONIO -(AP)- A longtime Dimmit County commissioner has been sentenced
to nine years in federal prison for drug trafficking.

"I'm sorry for what I did. ... I realize the mistakes I've made," Oscar S.
Alvarado, 65, told U.S. District Judge Fred Biery at his sentencing Friday.

Alvarado, who pleaded guilty, was sentenced on only one charge of conspiracy
to possess with intent to distribute marijuana, but testimony revealed a
history of drug smuggling that included the alleged involvement of two other
public officials.

Gustavo Jimenez III, postmaster at Batesville, about 40 miles northeast of
Crystal City, and Frankie Mancha, district clerk of Zavala County, have been
indicted on federal drug charges, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ernest Gonzalez
said.

Alvarado was caught in August ferrying 223 pounds of marijuana in a
county-owned pickup near Carrizo Springs in adjacent Zavala County. Carrizo
Springs, about 100 miles southeast of San Antonio and 20 miles south of
Crystal City, is the county seat of Dimmit County.

Testifying for the prosecution, Jimenez said he delivered cocaine to
Alvarado and another man on five occasions at an automotive parts store
parking lot in Eagle Pass, about 60 miles west of Crystal City. The cocaine,
Jimenez said, was destined for Crystal City.

Drug Enforcement Administration agent Florentino Rosales testified that in
addition to transporting marijuana, Alvarado later admitted he ferried
cocaine on three separate occasions from Eagle Pass to Crystal City, an area
"plagued with drugs."

"There are people openly selling drugs 24 hours a day," in Crystal City and
Carrizo Springs, Rosales said. Alvarado and his partner were paid $1,200 for
each trip, Rosales testified.