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LAW ENFORCEMENT
SENATE INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE
Leaked info
3 accused of smoking pot SPECIAL TO THE TIMES
Three Zapata High School teens were recently detained on campus for smoking marijuana, according to authorities. The public intoxication arrests were students who were sent to the assistant principal’s office. Authorities identified them as Jose Ernesto Garza, Carlos Alberto Guerra and Aaron Quintanilla.
Finding shows pattern of CIA deception
AARON QUINTANILLA: Accused of smoking marijuana with two others. CARLOS GUERRA: With two others, accused of smoking marijuana. JOSE GARZA: One of three arrested, accused of smoking marijuana.
See SMOKING PAGE 11A
By BRADLEY KLAPPER ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON — A controversial torture report by the Senate Intelligence Committee paints a pattern of CIA deception about the effectiveness of waterboarding and other brutal interrogation methods used on terror suspects after the Sept. 11 attacks, according to leaked findings. The committee said it will ask the Justice Department to in-
vestigate how the material was published. The McClatchy news service late Thursday published what it said are the voluminous, stillclassified review’s 20 findings. It concludes that the “enhanced interrogation techniques” failed to produce valuable intelligence; the CIA misled the Bush administration, Congress and the public about the value of the harsh treatment; the agency employed unauthorized techniques on de-
tainees and improperly detained others; and it never properly evaluated its own actions. Both the CIA’s interrogation techniques and confinement conditions “were brutal and far worse than the agency communicated to policymakers.” The reported findings are consistent with what senators have detailed about the investigation since its 2009 inception and with
See REPORT
PAGE 11A
FEDERAL COURT
GULF OIL SPILL
Man: I was helping mother
ILL AFTER THE OIL SPILL
By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ THE ZAPATA TIMES
A man caught transporting 12 illegal immigrants claiming he wanted to help his mother pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in Laredo, according to court records. Wayne Nicholas Martinez pleaded guilty to transporting illegal immigrants for financial gain. He could face up to 10 years in prison. The sentencing date has not been determined. Martinez remains out on bond. At 7:35 p.m. Jan. 25, federal agents detained Martinez on U.S. 83, about 7 miles east of Zapata. Martinez was allegedly driving a white 2001 Ford Expedition erratically. Agents attempted to stop the vehicle but Martinez accelerated before the agents could reach the driver side window, a criminal complaint states. Martinez drove about 25 yards before slowing down and letting 12 illegal immigrants escape from his pickup. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department game wardens assisted and caught up to Martinez shortly after. Several backpacks that belonged to the immigrants were found inside the vehicle. In a post-arrest interview, Martinez said he took the human smuggling job instead of his mother because he wanted to help her out. Martinez had picked up the group in Lytle. He had instructions to drive the people to El Campo, a suburb southwest of Houston. (César G. Rodriguez may be reached at 728-2568 or cesar@lmtonline.com)
Photo by Andrea Mabry | AP
Bert Ducote measures a piece of lumber for his boat, which is being rebuilt at the Lake Catherine Marina in New Orleans, on March 7. Ducote has had dozens of boils pop up on his skin since performing cleanup work during the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Some Gulf Coast residents show health problems
By STACEY PLAISANCE AND KEVIN MCGILL ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHALMETTE, La. — When a BP oil well began gushing crude into the Gulf of Mexico four years ago, fisherman George Barisich used his boat to help clean up the millions of gallons that spewed in what would become the worst offshore spill in U.S. history. Like so many Gulf Coast residents who pitched in after the April 20, 2010, explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig, Barisich
was motivated by a desire to help and a need to make money — the oil had destroyed his livelihood. Today he regrets that decision, and worries his life has been permanently altered. Barisich, 58, says respiratory problems he developed during the cleanup turned into pneumonia and that his health has never been the same. “After that, I found out that I couldn’t run. I couldn’t exert past a walk,” he said. His doctor declined comment.
Barisich is among thousands considering claims under a medical settlement BP reached with cleanup workers and coastal residents. The settlement, which could benefit an estimated 200,000 people, received final approval in February from a federal court. It establishes set amounts of money — up to $60,700 in some cases — to cover costs of various ailments for those who can document that they worked the spill and developed related illnesses, such as respiratory problems and skin
conditions. It also provides for regular physical examinations every three years for up to 21 years, and it reserves a worker’s right to sue BP over conditions that develop down the road, if the worker believes he or she can prove a connection to the spill. Some 33,000 people, including Barisich, are participating in a massive federal study that aims to determine any short or possible long-term health effects re-
See OIL SPILL PAGE 11A