By Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera
El Paso Times
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico — The Cereso municipal prison director in Juárez and four guards were formally charged with corruption on Wednesday in connection with last week’s massacre of 17 inmates.
Cereso director Lucio Cuevas Sánchez and guards Gregorio Pedroza Romero, Juan Francisco Gcmez Ravelo, Josc Luis Ramcrez Ozuna and Ricardo Martcnez Rinccn were arrested outside the prison on Tuesday around 4 p.m., said Arturo Sandoval, spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutor’s office.
Sandoval added that two inmates, Alejandro Alvarado Rucz and Sergio Bustamante, will be formally charged with homicide today.
Cuevas Sánchez and the four guards will remain in prison until their next hearing on Monday, where a judge will determine if there is enough evidence for them to face trial.
The men are facing a number of corruption charges, including abuse of authority, providing unauthorized privileges to inmates and child exploitation.
Sandoval said the prosecutor’s office formally accused the men based on mounting evidence.
“These apprehension orders are in relation to the events that took place last week,” he said. “There are videos, there are declarations and there are testimonies from prison staffers and the unauthorized people who were inside the prison.”
If found guilty, then the men would face between 4 to 15 years in prison, Sandoval said.
During a court hearing Wednesday, state prosecutors said that on July 24, Cuevas Sánchez allowed alcohol in the prison to celebrate and honor one inmate, and authorized illegal entrances of visitors and female inmates into the area.
On July 25, prosecutors said guards purposefully left several inmates’ cell gates open and allowed Alvarado and Bustamante access to an off-limits area where they found their targets.
Sandoval said authorities are still investigating the gunfight inside Cereso that killed 17 inmates, including two U.S. citizens, and injured 72 others.
A security video from that night shows a group of armed men wearing hooded jackets entering through a door with several guards standing nearby. The men are also shown shooting through the doorway.
Federal, municipal and army forces responded that night, regaining control of the prison. Inside, authorities found only one rifle, a gas grenade and several knives within the premises. They also recovered 729 bullet casings from at least four different weapons. Other weapons used that night have not been recovered.
City and state officials have said the deaths stemmed from a fight between the rival Aztecas and Mexicles gangs.
Authorities are also investigating the unauthorized party. Witnesses told police that several teenage girls and prostitutes were present, along with Cereso prison officers.
On Wednesday, the parents of a 15-year-old girl found inside Cereso were formally charged with child exploitation and child endangerment by negligence.
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