30 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
30 lines
2.2 KiB
Markdown
---
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category: "City"
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tags:
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- Geography
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- City
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- United_States
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- California
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- Dark_Alliance_Investigation
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summary: Southern California city where Ricky Ross was prosecuted, Danilo Blandón served as a DEA informant, and the pivotal DEA meeting with Gary Webb took place in October 1995.
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---
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San Diego is a city in southern [[California]] near the Mexican border that was the site of [[Ricky Ross|Ricky Ross]]'s arrest, trial, and sentencing on federal cocaine conspiracy charges.[^1]
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### DEA Sting and Trial
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The [[DEA]] reverse sting that arrested Ross took place in National City and Chula Vista, suburbs south of San Diego, on March 2, 1995. Ross was held without bail at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown San Diego.[^2]
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### DEA Meeting with Webb
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On October 19, 1995, [[Gary Webb]] met with six DEA agents at the National City regional office, including [[Craig Chretien|SAC Craig Chretien]] and [[Danilo Blandon|Blandón]]'s handlers [[Chuck Jones]] and Judy Gustafson. Chretien asked Webb to omit Blandón's DEA ties from his story. Eight days later, [[Robert Nieves]] resigned as head of the DEA's International Division and Chretien was promoted to replace him.[^3]
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### Trial and Sentencing
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Ross's trial took place in federal court in San Diego before Judge [[Marilyn Huff]] in March 1996. Prosecutor [[LJ Oneale]] filed a motion to prevent any mention of the CIA at trial. At sentencing, Huff told O'Neale she wanted answers from the CIA before passing sentence and ordered deportation proceedings against Blandón.[^4]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 24: "They're gonna forget I was a drug dealer"
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[^2]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 24: "They're gonna forget I was a drug dealer"
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[^3]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 25: "Things are moving all around us"
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[^4]: Webb, Gary. *Dark Alliance: The CIA, the Contras, and the Crack Cocaine Explosion.* Seven Stories Press, 1998. Chapter 27: "A very difficult decision"
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