Tucson Man Sentenced to Prison for Abusive Sexual Contact

PHOENIX, Ariz. – On February 24, Martin Gerardo Mendoza, 51, of Tucson, Arizona, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge David G. Campbell to 24 months in federal prison followed by 120 months of supervised release. In August 2019, Mendoza pleaded guilty to Abusive Sexual Contact.

On or between May 3 and May 4, 2018, Mendoza knowingly and intentionally engaged in sexual contact with the victim without her permission. Mendoza committed the act on the Yavapai-Prescott reservation in Prescott, Arizona. The victim is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tucson PoliceDepartment conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Christina Covault and William Voit, District of Arizona, Phoenix, handled the prosecution.

CASE NUMBER:            CR-19-8246-PCT-DGC

RELEASE NUMBER:    2020-047_Mendoza

ACTT Operation Yields More Than $4.4 Million in Marijuana

“Intelligence Driven Operations” continue to yield results

Tucson, Ariz. – A 60-day Alliance to Combat Transnational Threats operation in the Silver Bell Mountains of Arizona concluded on May 20. The ACTT operation resulted in the seizure of more than 8,900 pounds of marijuana and 17 weapons. The marijuana had an estimated street value $4.4 million.

The Tucson Sector Border Patrol was the lead agency during this ACTT operation which focused on apprehending smugglers and disrupting the activities of transnational criminal organizations operating in the Silver Bell Mountains. The intelligence driven operation displayed the unprecedented level of cooperation, coordination and communication that is taking place between law enforcement agencies across Arizona. The operation also exemplifies the ACTT’s commitment to deter, disrupt, and interdict individuals and criminal organizations that pose a threat to border communities.

"The significant results from operations such as this prove that all the efforts to increase border security are working,” said Tucson Sector Chief Patrol Agent Randy Hill. “Multi-agency partnerships and cooperation are essential to making our communities safer.”

The operation resulted in the following arrests and seizures:

732 illegal aliens

1 United States citizen

8,925 pounds of marijuana

17 firearms

This operation involved the following agencies:

Pinal County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO)

Pima County Sheriff’s Department Border Crimes Unit (PCSD BCU)

Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZ DPS)

Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

U.S. Border Patrol, Tucson Sector

Immigration and Customs Enforcement- Homeland Security Investigations (ICE HSI)

Immigration and Customs Enforcement- Enforcement and Removal Operations (ICE ERO)

Marana Police Department (MPD)

Eloy Police Department (EPD)

Tucson Police Department (TPD)

Oro Valley Police Department (OVPD)

ACTT, launched in September 2009, continues to utilize a collaborative, cooperative enforcement approach that leverages the capabilities and resources of Department of Homeland Security agencies in Arizona in partnership with other federal, state, local, tribal governments and the government of Mexico against criminal organizations that pose a threat to the United States.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is the unified border agency within the Department of Homeland Security charged with the management, control and protection of our nation's borders at and between the official ports of entry. CBP is charged with keeping terrorists and terrorist weapons out of the country while enforcing hundreds of U.S. laws.

Atlanta, Seattle and Tucson

Police-Writers.com is a website dedicated to listing state and local police officers who have authored books. Police-Writers.com added police officers who have written books from Atlanta, Seattle and Tucson.

Marc Harrold is a cum laude graduate of the University of Mississippi, School of Law where he received his J.D. He received his B.A. in Political Science from Clemson University. Prior to law school, Marc Harrold served the Atlanta Police Department as both a patrol officer and on a narcotics task force. He is currently a part-time police officer with the Oxford Police Department (Mississippi). Marc Harrold “has been published numerous times in law reviews, bar journals magazines and newspapers primarily in the areas of constitutional law, civil rights, First Amendment, identity theft, technology issues and immigration, asylum and refugee litigation.

Marc Harrold is the author of Observations of White Noise: An 'Acid Test' for the First Amendment and 5 Days Out: The Industrial Poetry of Delta Don McKabe. He is also the co-author of Mississippi Criminal Trial Practice (with Ronald J. Rychlak). According to the book description of 5 Days Out: The Industrial Poetry of Delta Don McKabe, “5 Days Out is the fictional, yet reflective, poetic journey recorded by "Delta" Don McKabe during his last days as a death row inmate inside Louisiana's famous Angola State Penitentiary. Hailed as an innovator in what has been tagged "industrial poetry," McKabe's verse speaks of the love, loss, fear and anger of a turbulent life while at the same time revealing an ironic glimmer of hope in the words of a condemned man.”

Steve Pomper has been a Seattle Police Department police officer since 1992. His assignments have included: Patrol, Community Police Team, and he served as a Field Training Officer for six years. Steve Pomper is the author of Is There a Problem, Officer? A Cop’s Inside Scoop on Avoiding Traffic Tickets. According to Steve Pomper, “It’s sad when drivers try to whine their way out of tickets they deserve, but it’s tragic when drivers talk officers into writing tickets they initially intended as warnings.” According to the book description, the reader will learn “when pulled over, it's not time to debate or argue; don’t mistake officer safety for officer rudeness; don’t take being stopped personally. It’s not about who you are; it’s about what you did; and, the phrases, and actions, that almost guarantee you'll get a ticket.”

Thornton Edwards is medically retired from the Tucson Police Department after 20 years of service. According to the book description of his book, Dancing with Ice, “What's it like to shoot someone, and then watch him die? Michael Callahan was about to find out. He was a street cop who always knew how to handle a situation. Why was this time different? His profession became his mistress and this destroyed his marriage. His world started to crumble, but the worst was yet to come. He was about to become a victim of the streets he protected. Michael Callahan had to face what he feared most: losing his health and his control. Based on a true story, this novel brings to life the trauma of an everyday hero.”

Police-Writers.com now hosts 570 police officers (representing 238 police departments) and their 1205 books in six categories, there are also listings of United States federal law enforcement employees turned authors, international police officers who have written books and civilian police personnel who have written books.