LANDER — An illegal immigrant with “probable” Mexican drug cartel ties was in a small Lander-based outpost of Wyoming’s federal court Thursday, where he was told he’s facing a term of between 10 years and life in prison on claims he’s been distributing meth on and around the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Oscar Espinoza Duarte was one of two Mexican nationals arrested Tuesday in Fremont County, the FBI confirmed Thursday to Cowboy State Daily.
Dressed in a short-sleeved orange jumpsuit and sneakers, Espinoza Duarte spoke softly in Spanish. An FBI agent who also spoke Spanish addressed him, as did the judge, who used an interpreter via telephone.
The FBI agent removed Espinoza Duarte’s handcuffs so the man could hold a phone to his ear and listen to his interpreter throughout the Thursday hearing in the U.S. District Court’s small outpost in Lander, Wyoming.
Judge Teresa McKee did not set his bond Thursday, saying that hearing will be early next week. But she asked a few questions about his finances so she could get him a public defender, and also informed him of the allegations he faces.
Arrived Empty-Handed, Left With A Package
Those allegations, splayed on the defense table in a multi-page criminal complaint, say that Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation agents had been investigating Espinoza Duarte’s circle at least as early as October.
Someone implicated Espinoza Duarte, McKee paraphrased aloud as she read from the complaint, which hasn’t been published in the federal court’s document registry as of the time this story was published.
The informant’s meth sources said their supplier was a Mexican man named Oscar, McKee added.
Espinoza Duarte lived on a highway near Kinnear. Agents monitored the home Feb. 6. At about 12:59 that afternoon, a man arrived in a white Ford pickup and entered the home empty-handed, related the judge.
At 1:20 p.m., agents watched the man leave the home with a red package in his hands, McKee paraphrased from the complaint.
They followed the man south into Ethete, where he parked at a convenience store and got into the passenger seat of another vehicle. That vehicle had expired plates, agents noticed.
McKee related from the complaint that agents stopped the vehicle, and identified Warren — sitting in the vehicle — as the man they’d seen leaving the rural home with a red package.
Agents noted the package in the bed of the truck and in plain sight, and could tell that it was a red Budweiser beer box with clear-colored baggies and what looked like meth nestled inside, the judge read from the affidavit in the complaint.
They secured the box, tested and weighed the substance. It tested presumptive positive for meth and weighed about 915 grams (2 pounds), McKee related.
Some Money
Espinoza Duarte gave the judge a rough count of how much money he has in his checking account, and noted that he doesn’t own a home or have a job at this time.
He had some cash on him when he was arrested, but it was confiscated, he told the judge. A DCI agent in the courtroom nodded as well.
He said he’s been working with immigration proceedings to establish residency and an attorney told him not to sign any documents.
But after McKee explained that the only document she wanted him to sign was a financial affidavit to get him an attorney, Espinoza Duarte signed it, looked up and nodded at her.
This Reservation
The FBI’s Wednesday statement says agents arrested a male Mexican national, who’s in the country illegally, the day prior in Fremont County. He has “probable ties to a known transnational drug trafficking organization,” the statement says.
It adds that he was found with about 1 pound of meth and multiple guns when arrested.
Authorities took two more people into custody, including one more illegal immigrant from Mexico, indicate simultaneous statements by the FBI and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“These aliens will remain in custody pending an immigration hearing before a judge,” says ICE’s Wednesday statement.
Contact Clair McFarland at clair@cowboystatedaily.com
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
