Statements Made by El Paso County Attorney Jose R. Rodriguez Regarding the Case of the 16-year-old Girl Accused of Drug Trafficking
"I am very concerned about the problem of teens trying to
bring drugs into the U.S.
I believe the best way to fight this problem is to balance
education, through community outreach programs, with vigorous prosecution of
serious juvenile cases. This is why our office has made strong efforts to
educate the teens in their schools about the consequences of getting involved
with drug trafficking. We have distributed to many of the local schools a
15-minute documentary, produced by our office, on the consequences of getting
involved with drug trafficking; we have done public presentations about the
issue, and we have been talking to parents in community meetings. If we don't
do these things, we might as well entrust the future of our kids to the drug
cartels."
"Since 2002 we have seen a downward trend in the number of
juveniles accused of transporting illegal drugs at the ports of entry. However,
we cannot let down our guard and relax our efforts which, I believe,
contributed to the reduction of this type of crime."
"It is not appropriate or ethical to speculate about the
severity of possible sentences in cases that have not even gone to trial
because the accused juveniles have not yet been found delinquent. Furthermore,
in any juvenile case the severity of the punishment is not decided by our
office, but by either a jury or the court."
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16-year-old girl Case Statements 10-27-2006.pdf
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