Raleigh, N.C. – A Raleigh- based Drug Enforcement Administration agent had a Latino suspect put on a sombrero and hold a Mexican flag and then took his picture, the suspect’s attorney said.
The defense attorney, Jeff Cutler, said a prosecutor and law enforcement officers confirmed the existence of the 2005 photograph of Jorge Hernandez-Villalvazo during a pretrial meeting last week.
Within minutes, the prosecutor offered a plea deal, avoiding a trial and freeing Hernandez- Villalvazo.
Cutler said the disclosure of the photo “was the driving force behind that plea deal.”
Hernandez-Villalvazo left the Wake County jail Friday two years after his initial arrest on a charge of conspiring to traffick cocaine.
Wake District Attorney Colon Willoughby, whose office handled the case, said the photo was a mistake. “It shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
DEA officials on Wednesday would not identify the agent or release the photo. “DEA is looking further into the matter,” a spokeswoman in Atlanta said.
