Deputy Arrested, Accused Of Extorting Mexican Motorists

LAREDO, Texas (AP) – A South Texas sheriff’s deputy has been accused of extorting Mexican motorists, threatening them with detention if they didn’t pay him immediately.

Henry James,Jr.was arrested Tuesday. The 45-year-old La Salle County deputy pleaded not guilty in federal court in Laredo yesterday. A motorist stopped on Interstate 35 complained to the sheriff’s office that James required him to pay a fine immediately or be detained.

Sheriff Victor Villarreal says his department used GPS technology to document several cases in which James stopped vehicles but didn’t call dispatchers. Four motorists complained of being stopped by James from June 30th to July 22nd.

A criminal complaint says James stopped two undercover FBI agents posing as Mexican motorists on July 25th and 28th for disregarding a stop sign on an Interstate 35 frontage road. The agents recorded James telling them that because they were Mexican, they had to pay him 150 dollars or be detained until a judge could see them.

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