MCALLEN, Texas -- A former investigator for the Hidalgo County Sheriff's Office testified against his onetime partner Monday afternoon, recounting how they conspired to steal 354 pounds of marijuana from a Mission home.
Former investigator Omar Salazar described meeting with his partner and fellow investigator Heriberto Diaz on Oct. 15, 2009, outside a Stripes convenience store in Palmview. There, Diaz told Salazar that he'd received a tip about marijuana stashed at a Mission home.
"He asked me if we could steal it, or if we should report it," Salazar said. "And if I had somebody who could pick it up."
Salazar described Diaz as the brains behind the botched theft, which cost both men their jobs and led to federal indictments. Salazar pleaded guilty June 9 and faces five to 40 years in prison. A federal judge will have discretion to give Salazar leniency in exchange for his testimony.
Diaz's attorney, Santos Maldonado, disputed that account during his opening statement Monday. He cast Salazar, who arranged for a confidential informant to pick up the marijuana bundles, as the mastermind behind the plan.
"My client said, 'You must be joking. You must be crazy. Let's go do our job,'" Maldonado said.
Either way, both investigators drove unmarked Ford F-150 trucks to a home on Ottumwa Street.
They didn't tell the Mission Police Department, a common courtesy among law enforcement officers when operating in another agency's jurisdiction. They also didn't seek a superior officer's permission before searching the home.
As investigators, both Salazar and Diaz wore street clothes. By policy, uniformed deputies accompany plainclothes officials when they search homes, which reassure residents that they're dealing with legitimate law enforcement officers.
Mission police officers noticed two men carrying bundles of marijuana from the home, and discovered both investigators were present. They became suspicious, sparking an investigation that led to state and federal charges against both men.
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Dave Hendricks covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4452.
Copyright 2011 - The Monitor, McAllen, Texas
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
