Gypsy Jan - 12-11-2012 at 06:37 PM
From The San Diego Union Tribune
By Greg Moran
"The Tijuana architect caught trying to smuggle more than 12 pounds of cocaine into the United States was sentenced Monday to gets six months prison
and six months home confinement.
Eugenio Velázquez could have received a sentence of 10 years, but a federal judge accepted his defense: That he was forced to smuggle drugs by
narco-traffickers who threatened his family.
Velázquez, one of the city's most prominent architects, was arrested after a narcotics-detecting dog alerted U.S. Customs officers to his car at the
San Ysidro border crossing in March. Officers discovered the contraband inside five packages in the vehicle's battery; its value was estimated at as
much as $464,000, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
Velázquez's projects include El Cubo, the art gallery at the Tijuana Cultural Center; and two projects under construction: the new Roman Catholic
cathedral and Centro Estatal de las Artes, an arts center at Morelos Park.
Velázquez pleaded guilty in June to knowingly and intentionally importing the cocaine, a charge that carries a minimum 10-year sentence under federal
guidelines. He had no earlier criminal record.
Velázquez's arrest followed the arrest of Maximino Melcho, an aspiring 23-year-old classically trained singer in Tijuana. Melcho pleaded guilty in
state court to transporting 44 pounds of methamphetamine in September.
Melcho's lawyers also said their client was forced into smuggling by threats against his family.
Velázquez, a 51-year-old U.S. citizen, had been cleared by a U.S. government background check to get a SENTRI card, a pass that allows trusted
travelers to cross the border faster."