Moreno Valley man suspected of belonging to deadly Guatemalan military brigade faces federal charges

A Moreno Valley martial-arts instructor suspected of belonging to the Guatemalan military unit that killed more than 150 civilians, including children, in the country's infamous Dos Erres massacre in 1982 faces fraud charges for concealing his past to federal immigration officials.

Jorge Sosa, 52, was arrested by Canadian authorities last week and is being held near Calgary pending an extradition hearing that could send him back to a Riverside federal court to face charges.

Sosa, also known as Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes, is suspected of being a commander in a special forces unit known as the "Kaibiles" that interrogated and then killed men, women and children while searching the Guatemalan village for guerrilla fighters who had ambushed a military convoy.

"During the course of these interrogations, the special patrol proceeded to systematically kill the men, women and children at Dos Erres by, among other methods, hitting them in the head with a sledgehammer and throwing them into a well," a Sept. 1 indictment from an Orange County federal grand jury stated.

"Members of the special patrol also forcibly raped many of the women and girls at Dos Erres before killing them," the indictment continued.

Approximately 160 skeletal remains were later found in the village well, according to federal officials. Sosa, who holds citizenship in Canada and the United States, faces two counts of lying to immigration officials to secure his U.S. citizenship.

If convicted of both counts, he could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in federal prison and also would be stripped of his U.S. citizenship and deported to Guatemala, said Thom Mrozek, spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles.

Mrozek said bringing Sosa back to California could take months unless Sosa agrees to waive his right to an extradition hearing. Sosa was taken into custody last Tuesday by the Lethbridge Regional Police while visiting family members in Canada.

The charges stem from Sosa allegedly concealing his foreign military service and lying under oath that he had never committed any crime or offense for which he had not been arrested when he applied for U.S. citizenship in March 2008.

A member of the notorious military unit, Gilberto Jordan, of South Florida, was sentenced in September to 10 years in prison for unlawfully procuring his U.S. citizenship by lying about his role in the Dos Erres massacre.

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Comments

[shadowpark]

how can this monster even get in to the states??

[bob]

Our govermnment enacted IRCA in 1986 because California representatives who are anchor babies and farm worker unions which represented Mexican nationals cut a deal with Congress behind the backs of Americans. The IRCA did absoutely nothing to ensure that criminals would not be granted amnesty. There was rampant false testimony about background and records by the illegal immigrants themselves.

[Don Juan]

Not surprising! There are many undeserving, criminals from places like El Salvador, living in the US who should never had obtained a visa. Unfortunately, US immigration fails to weed out those individuals. It is imperative that a thorough background check be conducted before people are granted a visa.

[Ucvbn Bjfyuvs]

Bob,

This guy was trained in the fine art of torture and terror by the U.S. Army at the U.S. Army School of the Americas (SOA), located in Fort Benning, Georgia.

This is the result of policies enacted by Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=School_of_the_Americas
http://www.soaw.org/about-the-soawhinsec

[Da Maverick]

The best part of this article is what it doesn't mention: Guatemala's military received most of its funding from the Reagan Administration. Since you know, the Gipper's directive of defeating communism included raping women and girls, throwing close to 200 innocent civilians into a well, as well as other unspeakable atrocities.

And yet, "Bob" spins his fantasy-laden tale by talking about "anchor babies" and Mexicans. This article is about GUATEMALA. Please look at a map.

[Marka Levante]

My question is, how this devil man...act by his self ?
And how many (?) like him..live (with) US :(:(:(:(
ox ox ox....horror :( :(:(:(

[geo88a]

This man was trained by the U.S., in the fabled School of the Americas. Over 200,000 civilians met similar faiths in that Central American nation. Dos Erres is the turning point. Brutality beyond belief, this unit of 50 men killed and raped young girls as young as 4 years old before killing them and dropping them in well, some still alive....pregnant women had their fetuses removed by force....this animal deserves to return to Guatemala to face genocide charges pending his return.....alright for Calgary, Canada.

[drdro]

@bob: huh?

[headjazz]

America is full of them! Our jails are full of them!

[Carmen]

Its just to show how incompetent our government is......How can this monster obtain citizenship??? How, I want to know??

[schugesen]

what do IRCA or amnesty or "anchor babies" have to do with this article?

What's ironic is that most of these Guatemalan (and other Central American) war criminals acted on behalf of right-wing dictatorships that were supported by the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations because they were pushing back against leftist (i.e., socialist) rebellions during the Central American civil wars of the 80's. Remember Iran-Contra, Oliver North, etcetera?

Those civil wars are the reason why there was so much immigration from El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua to the United States during the 1980's and 1990's. Wake up, America, you can't just foment war in other countries and expect the people living in those countries to sit there and wait it out. They almost invariably end up leaving in vast numbers and make their way to other countries, top of the list is the U.S. Then the same people who supported those wars end up complaining about all the immigrants. What's that saying about chickens coming home to roost?

[Montana Gold-]

Such a bad report... the government went around wiping gorilla supporters at a higher rate, they killed anyone playing revolutionary music. The La Times is full of ill informed journalists who have little touch to something we call, reality. They dig up propagandist archives, and add a slandering twist to it. Someone must of ruined your day for that useless article to be concocted.

[Randy Folds, PhD]

Forcibly raped? And to think I was unaware that you can be consensually raped...

[Filiberto Nolasco]

I am a scholar PhD student on contemporary Guatemala. is there anyway I can get access to the indictment and other supporting materials that you used?