Soldier jailed in Mexico on gun charges freed

Soldier jailed in Mexico on gun charges freed
By Alicia A. Caldwell - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday May 31, 2008 17:03:13 EDT

EL PASO, Texas — A U.S. soldier who was held in a Mexican jail for more than a month on weapons charges has been released, Mexican authorities said.

Spc. Richard Torres was arrested April 21 after he has said he accidentally crossed the border in El Paso with an AR-15 assault rifle, a .45-caliber handgun and 171 bullets in his car.

In a statement released Friday, a spokesman for the Center for Social Readaption jail in Ciudad Juarez said Torres, a 25-year-old Iraq war veteran, was released to U.S. authorities Friday afternoon.

Torres had faced a gun-possession charge.

Torres’ mother, Gloria Medina, said in a phone interview Friday that a Mexican judge hearing the case threw out the charge, allowing Torres to be released Friday afternoon.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/ap_torres_053108/