National Roundup

California 5 now charged in Los Angeles SWAT weapons theft LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Three more men have been charged in the theft of a Los Angeles SWAT team weapons cache from a training facility, bringing the number of arrests to five. Thirty submachine guns and handguns were stolen last month. Police say the weapons couldn't fire live rounds, but the theft was embarrassing. Prosecutors say 28-year-old William Vasquez is charged with unlawful assault weapon activity and possession of a firearm by a felon. His 24-year-old brother, Hector Gerardo Vasquez, is charged with possession of a machine gun. City News Service reports they pleaded not guilty Tuesday. Prosecutors also charged 31-year-old Mauricio Alberto Hernandez with possession of a machine gun. He'll be arraigned Nov. 30. On Monday, 29-year-old Richard Velasco and 41-year-old Gilbert Salcedo pleaded not guilty to grand theft and other charges. California Woman gets 10 years for San Diego court bombing SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A woman who set off a pipe bomb in front of a federal courthouse in San Diego has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. The San Diego Union-Tribune reports that Rachel Lynn Carlock was sentenced Monday for the 2008 attack. She pleaded guilty in 2009 to possessing and using a destructive device to commit a violent crime. Authorities say Carlock's boyfriend convinced her to place the bomb so he could turn her in to the FBI for $75,000 in reward money. The bomb -- a backpack containing three pipe bombs packed with nails -- shattered the doors of the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Courthouse, but nobody was hurt. Donny Love Sr. was convicted of orchestrating the crime. He and two others who pleaded guilty await sentencing. Maryland Man dies before hearing on feeding-tube clash FREDERICK, Md. (AP) -- A brain-damaged man at the center of a Maryland dispute over whether his feeding tube should be removed has died. An attorney for the wife of 55-year-old Daniel Sanger said the wife called him Wednesday morning to say her husband died overnight. A Frederick judge who was set to hear arguments on whether Sanger should continue getting sustenance through a feeding tube declared the case moot in a brief hearing Wednesday. Sanger suffered severe brain damage after a heart attack. Sanger's mother and brother had been seeking an injunction to keep the feeding tube in place at Frederick Memorial Hospital. It was restored last month under a temporary restraining order after Sanger's wife, Leta Sanger, had it removed. Colorado Group petitions EPA over air in 8 western states DENVER (AP) -- An environmental group has petitioned the federal government to reduce air pollutants in eight western states. WildEarth Guardians says that by law, the Environmental Protection Agency has to designate areas as "nonattainment" areas if they violate certain air-quality standards and put them on the path to cleaning up. The group's petition contends 15 areas should be labeled nonattainment areas for violating standards limiting particulate matter to less than 10 microns in diameter, or about one-seventh the width of a human hair. It said the EPA should declare six other areas "serious" nonattainment areas. WildEarth Guardians also wants the EPA to call for Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming to revise their state plans for complying with the Clean Air Act. The EPA had no immediate comment. WildEarth Guardians' petition argues the following areas should be labeled nonattainment areas: Tucson, Ariz.; Alamosa, Pagosa Springs, Parachute, Durango, Grand Junction and Lamar in Colorado; part of Jefferson County in Montana; Pahrump, Nev.; Deming, Sunland Park, Chaparral and Las Cruces in New Mexico; Tulsa, Okla.; and part of Sweetwater County in Wyoming. It said Nogales, Paul Spur/Douglas and Yuma in Arizona; Anthony, N.M.; and Salt Lake and Utah counties in Utah should be bumped up from moderate to serious nonattainment areas. New Mexico Ex-trustee's wife in NM gun case pleads not guilty LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) -- The wife of a former Columbus village trustee indicted in connection with a smuggling ring that federal authorities say funneled hundreds of guns into Mexico pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was given a conditional release. The Las Cruces Sun-News reports that Gabrielle Gutierrez, 30, entered her plea before U.S. Magistrate Court Judge William P. Lynch to charges of conspiracy, two counts of making false statements in connection with the acquisition of firearms and two counts of smuggling goods from the U.S. A federal grand jury in Las Cruces last month returned a five-count indictment against Gutierrez, the wife of ousted Columbus village trustee Blas "Woody" Gutierrez. Her husband, also 30, of Columbus, pleaded guilty to 19 counts of firearms smuggling and 17 counts of making false statements about acquiring firearms and conspiracy. According to the indictment, Gabrielle Gutierrez conspired with her husband and others from January to March to buy firearms that would eventually be smuggled to Mexico. She is also accused of recruiting a straw purchaser to buy 10 firearms on Feb. 12 from Chaparral Guns in Chaparral and paying both that person and another straw purchaser, on Jan. 15, $1,000 each for their cooperation. She faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted on the charges. A total of 12 of the 14 defendants charged with taking part in a smuggling ring that provided the La Linea cartel in Mexico with firearms and tactical gear have accepted plea deals in the case and await sentencing. None have been sentenced. A 13th defendant, Ignacio "Nachito" Villalobos, 24, of Columbus, is on the run and remains charged with two counts of smuggling firearms and one count conspiracy. Columbus is north of Palomas, Mexico, which has seen increasing violence as drug cartels wage war against one another, the Mexican Army and police. The town is in dire financial straits, which current officials blame on those indicted. Published: Thu, Nov 3, 2011