Southwest
Arizona rancher defense consultant claims 'cartel influence' in murder probe, rips sheriff's past comments
A consultant for Arizona rancher George Alan Kelly’s defense team told Fox News Digital that they believe the murder investigation was mired by “cartel influence,” as Santa Cruz County Sheriff David Hathaway is expected to take the stand this week to testify about traveling across the border to Mexico to interview the prosecution’s main witness.
Hathaway, who the defense told the judge last week they plan to call as a witness, was notably featured in a YouTube video published about a month ago by real estate agent Sydney Wilburn, who goes by Big Super online, in which the sheriff gives a tour of his home and the borderlands neighborhood where his family has resided since the 1800s.
The sheriff referenced the Kelly case on camera, without using the rancher’s name, describing how “there are people that’ll come to the border thinking they’re going to find some action.”
“Like, we had a rancher here that had been writing fan fiction on Amazon, and he was describing himself hunting migrants with his AK-47, and he actually even used his name, and his wife’s name, and his ranch’s name, and he came from somewhere else,” Hathaway said. “Then we caught him out there actually shooting at some people out there, shooting at some migrants, killed one of them, and one of them got away, so now he’s being prosecuted for homicide in the county.”
ARIZONA RANCHER GEORGE ALAN KELLY’S WIFE TESTIFIES IN MURDER TRIAL, DESCRIBES ARMED MEN NEAR BORDERLANDS HOME
George Alan Kelly enters court for his preliminary hearing in Nogales Justice Court in Nogales, Arizona, Feb. 22, 2023. (Mark Henle/The Arizona Republic via AP, Pool, File)
Walking his property, and speaking to the camera, the sheriff continued, “That’s an example of a guy with that mentality. They come out here, and they want to say, ‘I’m out here in the Wild West,’ and they want to have a big tough story to tell. ‘I’m gonna go out there, and hunt me some Mexicans,’ you know? And that appeals to some people, but that’s not a common thing.”
“He’s an extremist,” Wilburn, who has 120,000 YouTube subscribers, chimes in from off-camera.
“Yeah, you would not see people like that,” Hathaway added in the 52-minute video viewed by Fox News Digital. “It’s not like there’s a bunch of groups wandering around with that attitude.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Hathaway for comment, but he did not immediately respond.
Dr. Ron Martinelli, a forensic criminologist who is working pro-bono for the Kelly defense as their lead consultant with the forensic death investigation, told Fox News Digital that “these are completely inappropriate, prejudicial and extremely biased statements about a criminal defendant.”
The consultant said the video was referencing Kelly because, although Hathaway didn’t mention Kelly by name, the sheriff had been “literally driving through Mr. Kelly’s neighborhood.”
“But what is Mr. Kelly’s motive? So we have a rancher on a very nice ranch with an impeccable background of cooperation with law enforcement. He’s never been in trouble in his life. And according to Sheriff Hathaway and the state’s theory of criminality, Mr. Kelly woke up one morning and just decided he was going to kill him, a Mexican?” Martinelli said. “That’s absurd.”
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Kelly’s wife testified earlier in the trial that she saw a group of armed men dressed in camouflage and carrying packs near their residence on their 170-acre cattle ranch near Keno Springs outside Nogales, Arizona, before calling Border Patrol. Her husband went outside, and according to the defense, fired warning shots into the air.
Law enforcement responded, and hours passed before Kelly called for help again to report finding Gabriel Cuen-Buitimea’s body on his property on Jan. 30, 2023.
Kelly was charged with first-degree premeditated murder and held on $1 million bond for weeks as the case gained national scrutiny. The highest charge was later downgraded to second-degree murder.
Last week, Santa Cruz County Det. Mario Barba testified that he accompanied Hathaway to Mexico to interview Daniel Ramirez, the prosecution’s key witness who claims to have seen first-hand when Buitimea was shot on Kelly’s ranch before fleeing across the border. Weeks after the shooting, Hathaway arranged a meeting with Ramirez at a hotel in Nogales, Mexico, and though the sheriff interviewed him for about 40 minutes, he only recorded about six minutes, Barba said. The detective said Ramirez “couldn’t cross into the United States legally” to be interviewed.
“You could have spoken to Mexican officials to arrange something? Correct?” Kelly’s defense attorney, Brenna Larkin, asked.
Santa Cruz County Chief Deputy Attorney Kim Hunley listens as she plays a 911 call for the jury during George Alan Kelly’s trial at Santa Cruz County Superior Court on Friday, March 22, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP, Pool)
“Correct,” the detective responded.
“And you didn’t do that. Did you?” Larkin said.
Barba replied, “No.”
Taking the stand earlier in the trial, Ramirez admitted that he previously carried drugs across the border before and had been deported several times.
The defense believes that the people contacted by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office to conduct their investigation into Kelly’s case are related or connected to the Sinaloa Cartel, Martinelli said.
“The Sinaloa Cartel and Manos Malas, an organized crime ring which is in league with Sinaloa, do not allow independent drug smugglers. So you have to be associated with the cartel,” Martinelli said. “When they meet with him, that was actually facilitated by another convicted, twice convicted felon — one of his last convictions that he did prison time for was bringing guns across the border.”
George Alan Kelly, right, exits the Santa Cruz County Courthouse with defense attorney Kathy Lowthorp, Friday, March 22, 2024, in Nogales, Arizona. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International via AP, Pool)
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“The false narrative is out there that Buitimea and all these so-called witnesses are people seeking the American dream. Migrants seeking the American Dream do not smuggle drugs across the border or smuggle weapons across the border. And again, that is an indication of cartel influence, cartel membership,” the consultant said. “That has nothing to do with the narrative that the prosecutor and the sheriff were putting out there, that Mr. Buitimea was an innocent migrant seeking the American Dream.”
While with Barba in Mexico, Hathway introduced himself as the supervising investigator in the case, Martinelli told Fox News Digital, meaning “he is the supervising investigator in an international investigation that he initiated in a foreign country.” The defense believes that was a violation of U.S. State Department protocols, as well as Mexican law created by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador and the country’s legislature providing guidelines for U.S. authorities while conducting criminal investigations in Mexico.
George Alan Kelly listens to the prosecution during opening arguments at Santa Cruz County Superior Court Friday, March 22, 2024 in Nogales, Arizona. (Angela Gervasi/Nogales International, via AP)
“There is no evidence he ever advised the Mexican government or requested permission to enter the country to conduct an international homicide investigation involving Mexican nationals. And that includes the federal police. The Mexican federal police,” Martinelli said. “What we want to find out today is how that meeting came about. How did they cross into Mexico? You know, did they drive there in a marked car? Were they in uniform with, you know with their, even plainclothes, with their badges and firearms? How did that take place? Because procedurally, that’s a huge thing.”
Also on camera in the same YouTube video, Hathaway said that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that Border Patrol can search, detain and interrogate anybody within 100 miles of the U.S. international border.
“And the Supreme Court had called that extended border search authority,” Hathway said. “To me, it’s a real problem to have a policy like that within the U.S. government because this is supposed to be America. This is supposed to be a free country, right? I mean, you shouldn’t have people who can pull you over for no reason like they’re the Gestapo or something like that. For me, that’s a problem.”
Hathaway also went on to criticize the sheriffs of other neighboring counties for decrying the border crisis.
“He minimizes the victimization of migrants coming across the border. The rape of migrants. The murder and the robberies of migrants,” Martinelli said. “But at the same time, he is enjoying a financial grant from DHS to patrol the border with his deputies… He doesn’t have any problem taking money from the United States government for his deputies’ patrol.”
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Southwest
Texas bachelor, 70, is looking for love, pays $400 a week for billboard sign about 'enjoying karaoke'
A Texas man is searching for love — and he’s taken his search on the road.
Al Gilberti, 70, is from Sweetwater, Texas, and is dedicated to finding his special someone. He described himself as a “lonely male” who’s seeking a “female marriage-minded” person, according to the billboard sign he pays for in the west Texas town.
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The billboard, 20 feet high, includes an image of Gilberti and a call-out for anyone looking for love — and who enjoys karaoke, too.
The $400-a-week sign reads, “Lonely male, can relocate, Sweetwater. Seeks female marriage minded. Enjoy karaoke.”
Al Gilberti of Texas is looking for his forever mate. “People are inquiring thinking I was someone rich to help with their bills!” he said. (SWNS)
In the first two weeks since it was installed, Gilberti told SWNS that he’s had over 400 calls and 50 emails.
“It’s been more inquiries from people that are looking to gain something from me — which I get. I’d probably do the same,” he added.
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“People are inquiring thinking I was someone rich to help with their bills!” he also said.
The divorced dad of one said that many people are looking to take his money — something he said he’s not interested in entertaining.
A man from Texas took matters into his own hands as he seeks a “marriage-minded female.” He’s paying $400 a week for this billboard in his town. (SWNS)
Originally from Burlington, Vermont, Gilberti is a former band promoter. He said his non-negotiables are loyalty, honesty and sincerity.
“I just want someone loyal. I want someone honest about themselves and someone sincere that’s going to be coming into something they really want to be in,” he told SWNS.
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Gilberti said he is also looking for someone with a “slim build,” but otherwise doesn’t have a preference about looks.
He even said he would go to Europe if that meant he could find “the one.”
Gilberti said he was tired of waiting — so he decided to put up a billboard in town to try and find “the one.” (SWNS)
“I’d go to Europe to meet someone,” he said — but only if he got his passport sorted.
As for what he can bring to the table, he told SWNS he’s a good listener and is open-minded.
“I can offer someone that’s going to listen,” said the Texas man who’s been single since 2015.
Gilberti said he would travel for love — and even go overseas if it meant he’d find the right one. (iStock)
Gilberti said he has a retirement income and doesn’t look to be 70 years old — even noting his last relationship was with someone 26 years younger than him.
He noted that “a lot of seniors are close-minded” but he “is not.”
He also said he’s prepared to move anywhere within the U.S. to be with “the one,” but is also willing to go over to the U.K. if it’s the right person.
“It all depends on the person. As long as I’m not going to stump the money up, and then I have to leave,” he told SWNS.
A 70-year-old man is looking for a relationship by posting a billboard in his Texas town. (SWNS/iStock)
Gilberti also told SWNS that he’s “someone looking for fame” with his billboard listing.
Fox News Digital reached out to Gilberti for further comment and updates.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxnews.com/lifestyle.
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Brightline West has chosen the company to build and deliver new high-speed trainsets to be deployed on its bullet train system between Southern California and Las Vegas.
The trains will be built by Siemens Mobility, a German manufacturing company that has been building trains in Northern California since the 1980s and has a U.S. headquarters in Sacramento.
Siemens has already partnered with Brightline in the past, having built the diesel-electric trains used for the company’s East Coast operation that connects Miami to Orlando, Florida.
Brightline will be acquiring ten “American Pioneer 220” trains that it says will be delivered to Nevada in time for the service to begin operating in 2028. The AP220 is a zero-emission, fully electric train that is capable of reaching speeds of 220 mph, although those speeds won’t be reached when service begins.
The trains are expected to be set up in a 7-car configuration with a capacity of more than 430 passengers, depending on final design, Brightline says.
As part of the agreement, Siemens will also provide regular maintenance and large-scale repairs on the trains for at least 30 years, which will be conducted at a maintenance facility in Sloan, Nevada.
Both companies said the agreement represents more than just a simple exchange for goods and services. Siemens says the AP220 will introduce state-of-the-art passenger rail technology that, alongside the American supply chain, will create a new industry that rivals other nation’s with a decadeslong head start on high-speed rail.
As part of those ambitious American expansion plans, Siemens will also be building an entirely new manufacturing facility dedicated to producing the AP220 in a location that will be announced once contract details have been finalized.
“Just as we redefined train travel with our trainsets for Brightline Florida, we are excited to pioneer this new frontier of manufacturing and development for Brightline West,” said Brightline CEO Michael Reininger. “The momentum we are building, will culminate in new jobs and a new supply chain that will establish the foundation for a high-speed rail industry from coast to coast.”
Siemens has also built trains for Amtrak and is one of two companies, alongside Alstom Transportation, competing to win a bid by the State of California to manufacture the trainsets to be used in the California High-Speed Rail system.
Brightline said “interoperability” with the California High-Speed Rail was one of the factors considered when choosing a train manufacturer. Other factors included price, amenities, capacity and train performance.
Construction on the $12 billion high-speed passenger rail line began in April and the company has predicted service to begin in 2028. In the meantime, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said the project will bring thousands of union jobs to the region, reduce air pollution and kickstart a new American industry.
When completed, the a 218-mile rail line connecting the Inland Empire and Las Vegas, cutting an over-4-hour drive time into a 2-hour train ride. About 80% of the system will reside in California, following along Interstate 15 between Vegas and Rancho Cucamonga. Brightline will also be building a new transit center in Rancho Cucamonga which will offer riders the ability to transfer onto Metrolink.
Although a mostly private endeavor, the federal government has still provided significant capital to help get the Brightline system off the ground.
The Biden Administration has backed the project with $6.5 billion in funding, including a $3 billion grant awarded last December, as well as giving the approval to sell about $3.5 billion in bonds. Brightline previously agreed to finance $10 billion for the project.
The federal government, Brightline and Siemens hold the same belief that high-speed rail is a revolutionary technology waiting to be unleashed in the United States.
Marc Buncher, CEO of Siemens Mobility North America, said the partnership between his company and Brightline will help usher in a new future for passenger rail service in the U.S.
“We are excited to be selected to build and maintain America’s first true high-speed trains, which will feature some of the world’s most innovative high-speed rail technology,” Buncher said. “When they enter service, it will be one of the most pivotal moments in the history of American rail.”
New Mexico has reached a record settlement with a Texas-based company over air pollution violations at natural gas gathering sites in the Permian Basin.
The $24.5 million agreement with Ameredev announced Monday is the largest settlement the state Environment Department has ever reached for a civil oil and gas violation. It stems from the flaring of billions of cubic feet of natural gas that the company had extracted over an 18-month period but wasn’t able to transport to downstream processors.
Environment Secretary James Kenney said in an interview that the flared gas would have been enough to have supplied nearly 17,000 homes for a year.
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“It’s completely the opposite of the way it’s supposed to work,” Kenney said. “Had they not wasted New Mexico’s resources, they could have put that gas to use.”
The flaring, or burning off of the gas, resulted in more than 7.6 million pounds of excess emissions that included hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other gases that state regulators said are known to cause respiratory issues and contribute to climate change.
New Mexico has reached a record settlement over natural gas flaring in the Permian Basin.
Ameredev in a statement issued Monday said it was pleased to have solved what is described as a “legacy issue” and that the state’s Air Quality Bureau was unaware of any ongoing compliance problems at the company’s facilities.
“This is an issue we take very seriously,” the company stated. “Over the last four years, Ameredev has not experienced any flaring-related excess emissions events thanks to our significant — and ongoing — investments in various advanced technologies and operational enhancements.”
While operators can vent or flare natural gas during emergencies or equipment failures, New Mexico in 2021 adopted rules to prohibit routine venting and flaring and set a 2026 deadline for the companies to capture 98% of their gas. The rules also require the regular tracking and reporting of emissions.
A study published in March in the journal Nature calculated that American oil and natural gas wells, pipelines and compressors were spewing more greenhouse gases than the government thought, causing $9.3 billion in yearly climate damage. The authors said it is a fixable problem, as about half of the emissions come from just 1% of oil and gas sites.
Under the settlement, Ameredev agreed to do an independent audit of its operations in New Mexico to ensure compliance with emission requirements. It must also submit monthly reports on actual emission rates and propose a plan for weekly inspections for a two-year period or install leak and repair monitoring equipment.
Kenney said it was a citizen complaint that first alerted state regulators to Ameredev’s flaring.
The Environment Department currently is investigating numerous other potential pollution violations around the basin, and Kenney said it was likely more penalties could result.
“With a 50% average compliance rate with the air quality regulations by the oil and gas industry,” he said, “we have an obligation to continue to go and ensure compliance and hold polluters accountable.”
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