Texas police chief granted bond on drug charges

McALLEN - A federal court granted bond to a south Texas police chief arrested last week on drug trafficking charges, but prohibited him from law enforcement activities, confined him to his home and shared few details of his alleged role in the scheme Tuesday.

Sullivan City Police Chief Hernan Guerra Jr. was arrested as part of a nationwide sweep dubbed Project Deliverance targeting the transportation and distribution arms of Mexican drug-trafficking gangs. The 22-month investigation, announced last week, involved the arrest of more than 2,200 individuals.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Peter Ormsby set Guerra's bond at $100,000 Tuesday and said he would be eligible for release Wednesday after federal pre-trial services officers visit his home.

"The alleged role of Mr. Guerra is very troubling," Ormsby said, without revealing details. Ormsby noted that as a police chief, Guerra was in a position of trust and "allegedly was using that position in furtherance of this activity."

Guerra faces charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and possession of marijuana. He has been police chief in the small community west of McAllen since 2004.

Guerra was one of 28 co-defendants in an indictment alleging that, beginning in June 2009, they conspired to possess with intent to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana. The specific possession counts cited in the indictment total 1,199 kilograms, or more than 2,600 pounds of marijuana.

Ormsby said Guerra was alleged to have played a "significant role" in a large-scale and sophisticated drug trafficking organization.

Oscar Alvarez, Guerra's attorney, said after Tuesday's detention hearing that the charges were serious, but he had not yet seen evidence to support to support them. Guerra pleaded not guilty Tuesday.

Guerra was suspended by the city, Alvarez said.

"He certainly doesn't want a cloud over the police department while this matter is being litigated," Alvarez said. Even if Guerra is cleared, the stigma of the charge will persist. "I think my client is pretty much resigned to the fact that it will be very difficult for him to go back into law enforcement in the future."

On Monday, Ormsby denied bond for Javier Francisco Pena Jr., one of Guerra' co-defendants. Pena allegedly acted as a scout for the drug trafficking ring and was found with night-vision goggles, two-way radios and multiple cell phones.

The organization moved significant quantities of marijuana across the Rio Grande in the Sullivan City area with a high-degree of accuracy, said federal prosecutor Patricia Profit, giving a hint of how Guerra ties into the case.

Pena apparently was already on bond from a state drug charge when picked up for the federal case, Profit said. Investigators also have evidence Pena was connected to the use of road spikes to stop pursuing authorities. The spikes, which are usually multi-pointed clusters of nails welded together, have been a growing problem for Border Patrol.

-Associated Press