LADY HAWKS
SATURDAY OCTOBER 10, 2009
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EDUCATION
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Big bucks for the kids
Guilty in oil case
Zapata TMC facilities will see badly needed upgrades, expansion By NICK GEORGIOU THE ZAPATA TIMES
For several years, the facilities of a longstanding Zapata County community service provider have been in dire need of upgrades and additional space. “There are safety issues that we just cannot accept,” said Mary Capello, chief executive officer for Teaching and Mentoring Communities, formerly known as the Texas Migrant Council. “Roofs are leaking in some areas. We have to get them corrected so the children
feel comfortable.” But some of those poor conditions shouldn’t last for much longer thanks to $10 million in federal stimulus funds for TMC’s local tricounty area, which includes Webb, Zapata and Starr. U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, announced the funding at a news conference Friday. “This funding will have a tremendous impact on the lives of the many people TMC serves,” Cuellar stated in a news release. “I have always been a firm believer that education is the greatest
equalizer and I applaud the efforts of TMC for instilling the importance of education to our students at a very young age.” The money will be used for a variety of purposes, from buying four additional buses to transport students to school to renovating existing facilities and buying modular buildings. Another use of the money will be to purchase playground and kitchen equipment, education materials, video cameras and computers, Capello said. But a large chunk of the funds, she said, will go the hiring of ad-
ditional staffers and moving some part timers to full timers. Also, TMC’s hundreds of employees will get about a 3 percent cost of living salary increase. Because of this expansion, the organization will be able to serve an additional 102 families and children in Zapata and Starr counties, Capello said. But there’s several hundred more on the waiting list. Currently, TMC, headquartered in Laredo, serves more than 15,000
See TMC PAGE 14A
YOUNG SPIRIT
By JUAN A. LOZANO ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOUSTON — The head of a San Antonio energy business on Friday became the third man in two weeks to plead guilty for his role in brokering the sale of stolen petroleum products from Mexico. Valley Fuels Ltd. President Stephen Pechenik helped receive and coordinate the movement of stolen petroleum products, according to federal prosecutors in Houston. His guilty plea is part of a binational investigation into smuggled oil that is stolen from Mexico’s state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, transported across the border and sold to U.S. refineries.
Blame cartels
Photos by César Rodriguez | Laredo Morning Times
TOP: Members of the Cowboys team kneel down before their names are called during the inauguration of the Zapata Youth Football League at Hawk Stadium last week. The Cowboys are the defending champions. BELOW LEFT: Nikole Gutierrez, 7, shows off her pink cleats. BELOW RIGHT: Texans player Madison Guerra, 8, adjusts her mouthpiece before the game against the Aggies on Oct. 3 at Hawk Stadium. The Cowboys are the defending champions.
The Mexican government says drug cartel members and other criminals are responsible for many of the oil thefts by tapping remote pipelines, sometimes building pipelines of their own, and siphoning off hundreds of millions of dollars worth of oil each year. Pechenik faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced on Jan. 22 for one count of conspiracy to receive and sell stolen petroleum products, such as condensate. Condensate is a liquid hydrocarbon that refiners can blend with crude oil as they produce fuel and other products. “Stephen Pechenik, who has been in business for many, many years, regrets his misconduct and is very remorseful about it and entered a plea of guilty because he knew that he did something wrong and wants to make amends by admitting to it,” said Dennis Kainen, Pechenik’s attorney. Kainen declined to comment on why Pechenik got involved in the scheme. According to court documents that were unsealed in the case, Pechenik helped coordinate the transport of stolen petroleum condensate by tanker trucks from Mexico to the United States and arranged in February and March for eight tanker trucks filled with the product to be delivered to an unidentified U.S. company.
Civil action
Youngsters brimming with Hawk Pride By CÉSAR G. RODRIGUEZ LAREDO MORNING TIMES
Players suited up in helmets and pads. Their faces appeared aggressive enough to scare off the best defensive line in the NFL, yet they are just children
in the Zapata Youth Football League. The league kicked off Oct. 3 with a purpose of providing children a distraction and teaching discipline to young players. Everything started with a
bang. First, around 15 floats full of little football players and tiny cheerleaders gathered at Zapata County Courthouse to begin the fifth annual parade. The destination was Hawk Stadium. Upon arrival, children, ages 5 to 11, sprang out of the vehicles
and ran toward the field. Sada Burnham, board member of the Zapata Youth Football League, said the children gain experience and learn the basics of football.
See PRIDE PAGE 14A
Kainen said a civil action from May in which the U.S. government seized $102,525 from Valley Fuels as proceeds from the sale of the stolen condensate is still pending. Pechenik was the third person in the last two weeks to plead guilty to the same charge in the investigation. Arnoldo Maldonado, 45, who worked for Y Gas & Oil, a South Texas company based in Edinburg, arranged for 22 tanker trucks filled with stolen petroleum condensate to be delivered to unidentified U.S. companies between January and March, according to unsealed court documents. He
See GUILTY PAGE 14A