By Rob D’Amico
Pecos
Attorneys for Presidio resident Tiburcio “Butch” Acosta, facing three felony counts of smuggling guns to the La Linea cartel in Mexico, laid out likely elements of his defense in a Friday motion arguing that the court should allow an initial bail for him to remain intact and that evidence found of him in possession of guns were merely favors for friends trying not to break Mexican law.
“[Acosta] told the agents that he had allowed persons known to him to store firearms at his property or in his parked vehicles if they were traveling into Mexico so that they would not cross the border with firearms, but he denied being involved in any trafficking of firearms across the border,” Acosta’s attorneys wrote in their motion. He is being represented by federal public defenders.
U.S. Assistant Attorney Steven Spitzer wrote in a motion to deny his release that investigators had mobile phone records from Acosta, Adalberto Jaquez-Hinojosa, and another source with discussions about smuggling weapons to the La Linea cartel. “These conversations indicated that trafficked firearms were dropped off with Defendant in Presidio prior to being taken across the border,” the prosecution’s appeal motion stated. “The firearms discussed included a SCAR which is a high-powered military grade assault rifle as well as other semi-automatic firearms highly sought after by cartels.”
Acosta, arrested on November 13, was under investigation since 2022, according to court documents. U.S. District Judge David Counts initially granted him a bond of $30,000 (with $3,000 due to the court for release) on December 1. The prosecution appealed that ruling and filed a motion to deny his release and cited that Acosta was a flight risk and danger to the community. The defense, in a response motion, noted that as manager of the UETA tax-free shop in Presidio—and just being a Presidio resident would show that it’s quite normal to have crossed the border 400 times in the last few years, something the prosecution had touted as a flight risk.
The defense also stated that because of publicity from Big Bend Sentinel and Ojinaga Noticias, there would be a substantial risk of Acosta entering Mexico. “Mr. Acosta was publicly identified as a potential La Linea-linked individual, even if incorrectly or mistakenly, Mr. Acosta’s life could be in mortal danger if he was seen or recognized in Mexico because any person linked to La Linea can be killed by members of competing cartel factions,” the motion stated. “The evidence before the Court, based on the government agent’s testimony, is that Mr. Acosta’s life would be in danger if he were to enter Mexico. This only supports that Mr. Acosta is not a flight risk.”
The motion also includes testimony from Homeland Security Investigations Agent Garth Werner. The defense contends that the cell phone evidence of texts cited by the prosecution show nothing more than Acosta “safekeeping” guns on his property. “Mr. Acosta voluntarily met with ATF and HSI agents in November of 2024 for an interview in Presidio in relation to HIS’s investigation,” the motion recounted. “He told the agents that he had allowed persons known to him to store firearms at his property or in his parked vehicles if they were traveling into Mexico so that they would not cross the border with firearms, but he denied being involved in any trafficking of firearms across the border. Upon being arrested in November of this year, Mr. Acosta was again questioned and when asked how he got involved, he replied that others had ‘buttered him up,’ which the government characterizes as a ‘confession.’ Agent Werner testified that the government had no information outside of the 2022 time-frame that implicated Mr. Acosta in any wrongdoing.”
Acosta and another man arrested for allegedly smuggling with him—Adalberto Jaquez-Hinojosa of Presidio—face three felony counts related to smuggling, the most serious of which, trafficking in firearms, is punishable by 15 years in prison. Judge Counts denied a defense motion to set bond for Jaquez-Hinojosa, who is a Mexican citizen.
The motion also blasted prosecutors for initially listing Acosta as a noncitizen on their first request to detain him without bond. “Initially, the government sought to detain Mr. Acosta without bond by representing to the Court that Mr. Acosta was not a citizen of the United States or alternatively was not lawfully admitted for permanent residence … this representation was wrong. The detention hearing demonstrated that the case agents were fully aware throughout the pendency of this investigation (and indeed for many years prior to this investigation) that Mr. Acosta is a U.S. Citizen who, apart from his years attending university, has resided his entire life in Presidio, Texas.”
A hearing on the motions for conditions of release on a bond was held Wednesday after Big Bend Sentinel’s press time.
