Date: 1 Feb 2000 00:26:20 -0500
From: BOBWORN@aol.com
To: WORN@home.com
Subject: SNET: Small-Town Arizona Judge Amasses Fortune, and Indictment

 

    [ Part 2: "Included Message" ]

Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2000 21:43:11 -0700
From: spiker 
Subject: Small-Town Arizona Judge Amasses Fortune, and Indictment

NYT January 30, 2000
http://www.nytimes.com/

Small-Town Arizona Judge Amasses Fortune, and Indictment
By SAM DILLON

    DOUGLAS, Ariz. -- The arrest of the local judge in this southwest 
border town on drug racketeering and money laundering charges last fall 
seemed to be one more disturbing sign that the multibillion-dollar 
narcotics trade was corrupting law enforcement, not only in Mexico, but 
north of the border, too.
     But prosecutors preparing for the trial of the judge, Ronald J. 
Borane, have said that details emerging from scrutiny of his lengthy career 
suggest that he learned to disregard the law long before Douglas became a 
crossroads in the international drug trade.
     Judge Borane amassed wealth and influence far beyond what could be 
expected of a small-town judge, the prosecutors said.
     Judge Borane's brother, Ray, is the mayor of Douglas, which has a 
population of about 15,000. Ray Borane is not implicated in the case.
     A lawsuit filed against Judge Borane in January asserts that he turned 
the local jail into a debtors' prison, repeatedly jailing poor laborers who 
were unable to settle debts with local property owners.
     "As a judge, he saw himself as a law unto himself," said John R. 
Evans, the Arizona assistant attorney general, who is coordinating the 
prosecution.
     After a two-year drug investigation, Judge Borane was arrested on 
Sept. 9 in Tucson, where he was attending a judicial conference.
     Investigators said the judge invested $5,000, twice, in two sham drug 
deals described to him by an undercover agent of the Federal Bureau of 
Investigation while video cameras rolled. Judge Borane was given at least 
$26,500, which he was told was his share of profits from the deals.
     The investigation of Judge Borane was carried out by federal agents, 
but the United States attorney in Arizona deferred prosecution to the state 
authorities. The four felony charges against him carry a maximum total 
sentence of 50 years, but state authorities said it was possible that, if 
convicted, he could be sentenced to probation.
     William Walker of Tucson, the defense lawyer, said that Judge Borane 
believed he had been investing in a legitimate deal involving the marketing 
of surplus United States Army uniforms.
     "This is an outrageous case of government entrapment," Mr. Walker said.
     [Judge Borane served simultaneously as justice of the peace and 
Douglas city magistrate. For five months after his arrest, he continued to 
draw his $113,000 joint salary, insisting he would be exonerated and 
returned to the bench. But on Jan. 21 he resigned and promised not to seek 
office again after Arizona's Commission on Judicial Conduct agreed to drop an
investigation of his court. [In a separate review still under way, the 
Arizona Supreme Court announced on Jan. 26 that a preliminary finding 
showed that Judge Borane had coerced defendants into pleading guilty, used 
his court to circulate political petitions, and allowed businesses in 
Douglas, including Wal-Mart, to issue criminal complaints against
customers who wrote bad checks. The judge's salary was based in part on the 
number of cases he handled.]
     The judge's arrest stunned most of the establishment in Arizona. "He 
was highly regarded," said Anita L. Sanchez, the Douglas city attorney. 
"Everybody is devastated. Nobody knows quite what to think." But, the 
arrest was less surprising to others who had watched him build his power 
and reputation in Cochise County, a region of sweeping desert
vistas that borders Mexico and New Mexico.
     "Joe Borane has no scruples whatsoever," said Alberto Rodriguez, a 
retired Army colonel and former mayor of Douglas, who has known the judge 
since childhood. "He's the greediest person I've ever run across."
     With a high school education, Mr. Borane rose from Douglas town 
patrolman and police chief to magistrate, justice of the peace and power 
broker, prosecutors and his former associates said. A prolific fund-raiser 
for the Democratic Party, he built a statewide reputation, serving for a 
decade on an elite panel that reviews the conduct of Arizona judges.
     Along the way, he bought nearly 200 houses, ranches and businesses 
that made him the county's largest landowner, with assets he declared in 
February 1999 at $5.9 million, according to county property records. County 
officials said his real estate assets were worth far more than that 
declared value. The judge said his net worth at that time was $4.7 million.
     Mr. Borane began to build his wealth in the 1970's, when he headed the 
Douglas police, fire, animal control and weights and measures departments, 
with the catch-all title of safety director.
     Mr. Rodriguez, who was elected mayor of Douglas in 1978 after 
returning from an Army career, said Mr. Borane had used patronage to build 
a broad political base that gave him effective control of the City Council. 
Ordering an investigation of city finances, Mr. Rodriguez said he 
discovered ticket-fixing, contract-rigging and other forms of graft, with 
much of it linked to Mr. Borane.
     Mr. Borane was not charged in the inquiry but resigned his posts in 
1979 as the investigation advanced. A year later, he became justice of the 
peace, taking control of a courtroom with 12 plastic chairs and 
jurisdiction over misdemeanor cases. He was re-elected several times.
     In 1986, after Judge Borane was driving his car when it crashed, 
killing a passenger, the police determined that the judge's blood alcohol 
level was 0.17. In Arizona, drivers with a level of 0.10 are presumed to be 
under the influence. No charges were filed.
     In 1990, Judge Borane again came under scrutiny after the discovery of 
a cross-border tunnel used to smuggle tons of cocaine into Douglas from 
Mexico. Investigators found that Judge Borane had sold the warehouse hiding 
the tunnel's Douglas entrance to the drug traffickers who operated the 
tunnel, earning windfall profits on the sale.
     No charges were filed against Judge Borane in the tunnel inquiry. In 
the mid-1990's, Judge Borane began to use his court as a debt collection 
agency, ordering indigents held in jail until they made payments, court 
records show.
     "The 13th Amendment of the United States Constitution abolished 
forever the concept of debtor's prison from American shores, except, 
apparently, in Douglas, Ariz., " wrote Ralph Malanga, the lawyer for an 
indigent client in a 1999 lawsuit challenging Judge Borane's actions. "This 
case
demonstrates a grotesque miscarriage of justice and a  heedless 
indifference by the judge to the rule of law."
     The Cochise County attorney, saying that Judge Borane had ordered the 
arrests without advising other authorities, did not contest Mr. Malanga's 
petition. As a judge, Mr. Borane is immune from prosecution for his decisions.
     Judge Borane's jury trial is scheduled to begin June 6.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
J.A.I.L.  (Judicial Accountability Initiative Law)
Use header to subscribe/remove: jail4judges@mindspring.com
JAIL is a unique addition to our form of government.
JAIL is powerful! It is dynamic! It is America's ONLY hope!
Visit JAIL's very informative website at www.jail4judges.org
JAIL's message is spreading across this nation vociferously!
Support JAIL @ P.O. Box 207, No. Hollywood, CA 91603

"..it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."
                                                    --Samuel Adams      <><
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

J.A.I.L.  (Judicial Accountability Initiative Law)
Use header to subscribe/remove: jail4judges@mindspring.com
JAIL is a unique addition to our form of government.
JAIL is powerful! It is dynamic! It is America's ONLY hope!
Visit JAIL's very informative website at www.jail4judges.org
JAIL's message is spreading across this nation vociferously!
Support JAIL @ P.O. Box 207, No. Hollywood, CA 91603

"..it does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate,
tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds.."
                                                    --Samuel Adams      <><
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~