U.S. TO PAY $1.9 MILLION IN ANTIDRUG PATROL SHOOTING

Settlement: Deal ends suit over goatherd killed by Marine squad near the
Mexican border. The government admits no wrongdoing.

EL PASO--The government will pay $1.9 million to the family of a teenage
goatherd who was killed by a Marine patrolling the U.S.-Mexico border for
drug traffickers, a family lawyer said Tuesday.

The government admitted no wrongdoing in the May 20, 1997, death of
Esequiel Hernandez Jr., though the controversy led to the suspension of
military patrols along the border. The family's attorney, Bill Weinacht,
said the settlement signed by the Hernandezes on July 25 brings an end to
all legal action by the family.

The victim's brother, Margarito Hernandez, said the money doesn't ease the
loss. "It's pretty hard. Nothing is going to bring him back. But at least
it will help my parents. It will help them, financially, at least," he
said.

Hernandez, 18, was killed in Redford, 200 miles southeast of El Paso, after
crossing paths with a four-man Marine patrol conducting antidrug
surveillance on the Rio Grande at the request of the Border Patrol.

Military officials said Hernandez, who was herding his goats, fired twice
at the Marines with his .22-caliber rifle and had raised the gun a third
time when the patrol leader shot him once with an M-16.

Hernandez's family and civil rights activists have long disputed the
military's account. Family members said the teen, who had no criminal
history, would never knowingly have shot at anyone. They said he carried
the rifle only to protect his livestock from wild dogs and occasionally to
shoot targets.

Investigators have consistently backed the military. Federal and state
grand juries declined to indict any of the Marines.

The Rev. Melvin LaFollette, a Redford activist, said the settlement is "one
more piece of evidence that there was total wrongdoing in this case by
various arms of the government." "Innocent parties don't pass out millions
gratuitously."

A Justice Department spokeswoman, Chris Watney, would not comment because
of federal privacy law.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)