Two Mexican drug cartel thugs were found guilty by a Federal court in the slaying of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry way back in December of 2010.
Ivan Soto-Barraza and Jesus Sanchez-Meza used weapons supplied to them by the U.S. government to slay the decorated agent during a gunfight in the Arizona desert.
The two defendants showed little emotion when the verdict was read. They face a sentence of life in prison at their next court appearance Dec. 9.
Prosecutors say Soto-Barraza and Sanchez-Meza were part of a five-man cartel “rip crew,” regularly patrolling a remote part of the Arizona desert for drug smugglers to rob at gunpoint.
The judge in the case forbade the prosecution from bringing up the bungled Fast and Furious gunwalking scandal during the trial.
Terry’s death exposed the bungled federal gun-tracking operation known as “Operation Fast and Furious,” after investigators found two AK47-style weapons that had been lost from the program at the scene of the murder.
Under the Fast and Furious operation, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed criminals to buy guns with the intention of tracking the weapons. But the agency lost most of the guns, including two that were found at scene of Terry’s death.
The operation set off a political firestorm, led to congressional investigations and became a major distraction for President Barack Obama in his first term.
The judge in the murder case restricted any mention of Fast and Furious, but it still marked the first trial for any defendants in the case. Two suspects have already pleaded guilty, and two others remain fugitives.
So while the people who pulled the trigger in Terry’s death finally are brought to justice, the pair who put the guns into the hands of these ruthless killers remain at large: Barack Obama and Eric Holder.
