Officer of the Year Nomination Letter

March 21, 2006 

New Mexico Sheriffs and State Police Association
P.O. Box 37068
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87176-7068

 

RE: Nominations for Officer of the Year

 

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen:

I write to nominate Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Dennis Kintigh and Lovington Detective Lieutenant Daniel Escobedo as the Officers of the Year for 2005. Agent Kintigh is stationed at the Roswell Residential Agency of the FBI and Lieutenant Escobedo recently retired from the Lovington Police Department. Iwas the lead federal prosecutor in the case of United States v. Luis A. Cisneros, et. al., which first was filed in federal court in Albuquerque but was later transferred to Phoenix, Arizona. It is the story of this case, and of the efforts of Agent Kintigh and Lieutenant Escobedo to bring this case to a successful conslucsion, that form the basis of this nomination. I have attached a copy of the Second Superceding Indictment from both the New Mexico and Arizona cases.

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The Triggering Event: A Small Community is Stunned

On January 12, 2000, at approximately 7:15 p.m., two masked gunmen barged into the home of Jose Moreno, Sr., and his family at 1202 W. Gore in Lovington. Present in the home with Mr. Moreno were his wife, his adult daughter, his 16-year-old son, an adult niece, and four grandchildren under the age of 9. The gunmen herded Mr. Moreno into the living room and shot him five times in the head. One of the gunmen then went down the hall and pumped two bullets into the chest of Jose Moreno, Jr. the gunmen were in the house for less than two minutes and left behind no forensic evidence. The elder Moreno died instantly from his wounds. Jose, Jr., the star of the Lovington High School football and baseball teams, clung to life for several minutes but ultimately died of internal bleeding on the way to the hospital. Because of his popularity, the standing-room-only funeral of Jose, Jr., occured in the Lovington High School gymnasium.

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The Investigation Begins in Earnest

It was obvious to the investigators first on the scene, including Detective Escobedo, that the Morenos had fallen at the hands of professional hitmen. Consequently, the Moreno double-murder touched off a multi-jurisdiction law enforcement investigation unlike any that the State of New Mexico has ever seen. As explained in more detail below, the investigation of the enterprise responsible for the Moreno murders led federal, state, and local investigators to ten different states in search of evidence, witnesses, and answers. Although this case was investigated by dozens of agents, detectives, and street cops from several jurisdictions, the efforts of Kintigh and Escobedo led the way.

Soon after the Moreno homicides, Kintigh, Escobedo and their colleagues interviewed witnesses who pointed them in the direction of a racketeering enterprise that operated in the Mesa and Chandler, Arizona area. Headed by brothers Luis and Felipe Cisneros, the Cisneros Organization had literally presided over a reign of terror in the Phoenix area since they migrated there from Pomona, California, in the early 1990s. The Cisneros Organization engaged in two primary rackets: (1) the theft and VIN-switching of motor vehicles; and (2) the manufacture and distribution of substantial quantities of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana. Notably, the Organization protected the profitability of its rackets by systematically eliminating potential witnesses against it. The Organization is believed by Arizona law enforcement officials to be responsible for the murders of more than 10 individuals tho were believed by the Organization to be cooperating with law enforcement. Most disturbing, the Organization had entered into a sinister partnership with high-ranking members of the New Mexican Mafia, an Arizona-based prison gang that was itself an off-shoot of the original Mexican Mafia that had formed in California prisons in the 1960s and 1970s. The New Mexican Mafia is believed by law enforcement officials in Arizona to be responsible for more than 100 murders and literally uncountable attempted murders and violent assaults.

Early on in the investigation, Kintigh and Escobedo developed evidence that showed that New Mexican Mafia captains Paul Eppinger and Angel Rivera were the assassins in the Moreno homicides and had done so at the behest of Luis Cisneros. Although the identity of the persons responsbile for the Moreno homicides was known early on in the investigation, amassing evidence to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt proved to be a monumental task.

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Peeling the Onion: The Investigation Intensifies

Of the many investigative and prosecutorial challenges presented by this case, chief among them was proving why a racketeering enterprise headquartered in Mesa, Arizona, would deem it necessary to have a father and his son murdered in Lovington, more than 600 miles away. The answer to that question – and, thus, the motive for the murders – emerged from the nature of the racketeering enterprise itself. The investigation headed by Agent Kintigh and Detective Escobedo revealed that the Cisneros Organization had engaged in a fairly sophisticated VIN-switching shceme. As an example the Organization would acquire relatively new but salvaged vehicles at very cheap prices, usually from a salvage dealer in El Paso, Texas. The Organization then would harvest the VIN plate and "Nader" sticker from the salvage and then transplant them onto freshly stolen vehicles of similar make, model, and year. The Organization would get the vehicles retitiled and then sell them to unsespecting members of the public and make a handsome profit.

It was through this VIN-switching racket that Luis Cisneros and Jose Moreno, Sr., became acquainted. Mr. Moreno and his elder son, Steven, agreed to set up a salvage business in Lovington and use the associated license to acquire salvage vehicles for the Organization. In exchange for money, the Morenos would use their license to buy salvage vehicles from a salvage dealer in El Paso, which vehicles subsequently would be transported to the Organization headquarters in Mesa, Arizona.

The Morenos soon lost interest in this business arrangement and withdrew. Unfortunately, however, the paper trail left behind by their participation in this racket ded not disappear. Investigators in Socorro, NM, and Phoenix, AZ, stumbled onto the evidence of the Morenos' involvement with the Cisneros Organization. The investigators' interest in unraveling the mystery ultimately became known to the Organization, the leaders of which made the decision that the Morenos had to be silenced.

To show why the Cisneros Organizaiton would need to resort to murder to protect its rackets, Agent Kintigh and Detective Escobedo knew it would be critical to prove the scope and profitability of the rackets. If Kintigh and Escobedo could show that the VIN-switching and drug dealing were making hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Organization, then a jury would be much more likely to believe that the Organization ordered the Moreno murders. Consequently, Kintigh and Escobedo redoubled their efforts and set about to find the witnesses and the physical and documentary evidence necessary to tell the full story.

From the night of the murders (January 12, 2000) up to and well beyond the date of the first federal indictment (September 19, 2002), Agent Kintigh and Lieutenant Escobedo devoted their professional lives to bringing to justice those responsible for the Moreno murders. Between them, they conducted interviews of approximately 300 persons, some 250 of whom would have been called as witnesses at trial. They revealed and analyzed hundreds and hundreds of wire-intercepted phone calls. They amassed evidence of approximately 40 VIN-switched and stolen vehicles, including all of the attendant paperwork. They contacted law enforcement agencies in a nearly a dozen states, obtained copies of those agencies' reports, and took custody of those agencies' evidence. The resulting mountain of reports included more than 80,000 pages of documents, more than 16,000 wire intercepted telephone calls, and thousands of hours of videotapes. Not only did they provide the raw material that would be used to craft an indictment and then prove the charges, but Kintigh and Escobedo spent hundreds of hours assimilating, organizing, and making sense of the evidence to assist the prosecutors.

Because of the interstate nature of the Cisneros Organization, the investigation of the Organization necessarily was also interstate. Investigating this case took Agent Kintigh and Lieutenant Escobedo all over New Mexico and to the Phoenix area literally dozens of times. They also traveled to several cities in Texas and to Colorado, Utah, and West Virginia. They also orchestrated the investigative efforts of fellow law enforcement officers in Kansas and California. Kintigh and Escobedo interviewed witnesses in police conference rooms, jails, prisons, homes, and restaurants. Inshort, they tirelessly and doggedly pursued the truth in this case -- wherever that pursuit led them -- and left no stone unturned in seeking it out.

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The Indictment: No Slowing Down

As mentioned above, this case was indicted as a racketeering and contract murder case in the District of New Mexico in September, 2002. At first, six of the defendants were eligible for the death penalty. Ultimately, the decision was made ot seek death against four of them: Luis and Felipe Cisneros, the heads of the Organization, and Eppinger and Rivera, the two hired assassins. In July, 2003, the Attorney General authorized the United States to transfer the prosecution of this case to Phoenix, The prosecution team remained the same, however, and the commitment of Agent Kintigh and Lieutenant Escobedo remained constant.

The case ultimately was set for trial beginning in January, 2006. Throughout the long pre-trial period, Kintigh and Escobedo spent hundreds of hours interviewing witnesses and convincing them to testify. Quite naturally, many of the government's 250 witnesses were reluctant to testify, given the history of the witness killing that this case featured. But for the efforts of Kintigh and Escobedo, many of these witnesses might have decided that the safest option was to disappear or experience a lapse of memory. But not one did, a tribute to the ability of Kintigh and Escobedo to convince the witnesses to "do the right thing."

In addition to the extraordinary "care and feeling" of witnesses in which they engaged, Kintigh and Escobedo also spent hundreds of hours with the prosecutors in preparing the case for trial. Marathon sessions in the U.S. Attorney's office were instrumental in hashing out the evidence, identifying and curing weaknesses, and developing a playbook for how the government would present his case. Kintigh and Escobedo fielded literally dozens of dozens of requests from the prosecutors to track down leads, find documents, and interview and corroborate witnesses, all in the interest of making the government's case more airtight.

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The Case Ends Successfully

Recognizing the strength of the government's case, the defendants in this case pleaded guilty. Luis Cisneros, Paul Eppinger, and Angel Rivera – the three men most responsible for the Moreno murders – were sentenced to three consecutive life terms with no parole. Consequently, they will never again walk the streets as free men; rather, they will die in prison. The remaining defendants received terms of imprisonment ranging from 18 years to 1 year, based on their relative culpability. The surviving Moreno family members desperately wanted the case to end without a trial, which saved them the emotional hardship of having to testify in the case and then having to endure years and years of post-trial litigation.

I cannot emphasize enough that this case would not have ended successfully as it did were it not for the dedication and professional efforts of Special Agent Kintigh and Lieutenant Escobedo. From the night of the murders, they provided momentum for this case. Whenever the investigation seemed to be dragging or not moving fast enough, Kintigh and escobedo would simply buckle down and keep going. For six full years, they never gave up, motivated by the belief that someday those who destroyed a family and ripped apart a community would face the full measure of justice that they deserve.

Thank you for considering my nomination of Special Agent Dennis Kintigh and Detective Lieutenant Daniel Escobedo as Officers of the Year for 2005. Please contact me at (505) 224-1513 if you have any quesitons or need additional information.

Respectfully,

 

Gregory J. Fouratt is currently serving as The United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico.