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Ex-Marine Jon Hammar back on US soil after release from Mexico prison

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The ordeal for Jon Hammar Jr., who languished under deplorable conditions in a violent Mexican prison for four months, is finally over.

Jon Hammar Sr. has confirmed that his 27-year-old son, a Marine combat veteran, is back on U.S. soil and with him in a rented car in Brownsville, Texas.

Hammar Sr. said his son was released from the notorious CEDES prison at 8 p.m. local time and made it back across the bridge between Matamoros, Mexico and Brownsville, Texas by around 8:30 p.m.

The ex-Marine, who was arrested at the same border crossing Aug. 13 after attempting to declare an antique shotgun, was suffering from a stomach virus, his father told Fox News as he and his son drove from the border looking for a hotel to spend the night.

“We’re both tired and at our wits end,” Hammar Sr. said. “We’re glad he’s out of there.”

His son declined interviews.

State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement that Jon Hammar Jr.was met at the prison by officials from the U.S. Consulate General in Matamoros and escorted to the U.S. border.

“We sincerely appreciate the efforts on the part of Mexican authorities to ensure that an appropriate resolution was made in accordance with Mexican law, and that Mr. Hammar will be free to spend the holidays with his loved ones,” Ventrell said.

Hammar Sr. said because it was dark he could not get a good look at his son to see how the ordeal affected him physically.

He did express concern for the post-traumatic stress disorder his son has been battling since 2008.

Hammar Sr. said he and his wife heard from their son’s attorney, Eddie Varon-Levy, Thursday night that their son was going to be released from prison today.

He quickly caught a flight and spent the day anxiously waiting for his son’s repatriation.

“It took them all freaking day to process him out,” Hammar Sr. said.

Now begins the rebuilding process for Jon Hammar Jr., who will make the 22 hour drive with his father back to their Palmetto Bay, Fla. home, to be reunited with his mother Olivia, and to spend Christmas at home.

Source: Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Letter from Mexican ambassador dampens hope for early release of Jon Hammar

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Any hope that Jon Hammar, the Marine imprisoned in Mexico on a disputed gun charge, might be freed in time for Christmas has apparently been dashed by a terse letter a top Mexican diplomat sent to Hammar’s congresswoman.

The two-page missive from Mexican Ambassador to the United States Arturo Sarukhan to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), who has been aggressively advocating for Hammar’s release, leaves little hope of a diplomatic solution. In it, Sarukhan takes a thinly veiled swipe at the U.S., blaming it for gun proliferation south of the border.

“As you know well, Mexico has had very stringent gun-control laws in place for many years, and have reinforced their application as a result of the flow of weapons illicitly purchased in the U.S. and then trafficked into Mexico and into the hands of transnational criminal organizations,” Sarukhan wrote.

Hammar has been stuck in a notorious, drug cartel-controlled prison just 15 miles south of the U.S. border since Aug. 13, after he crossed into Mexico and declared an antique shotgun to Mexican customs officials.

Sarukhan failed to mention that Tamaulipas, the state which the CEDES prison in Matamoros is located, is controlled by the Los Zetas Cartel, arguably the most vicious of the cartels.

Hammar’s father said the letter is fraught with statements at odds with what he knows and what his son has told him.

“There are huge inaccuracies about what is happening in their system,” Jon Hammar Sr., said.

Sarukhan said Hammar was arrested for possession of a weapon that, according to Mexican law, is restricted for the exclusive use of the Mexican Armed Forces.

But high-ranking Mexican military officials have told Hammar’s attorney, Eddie Varon-Levy, that the gun Hammar tried to declare shortly after crossing into Mexico on his way to Costa Rica is not the type of firearm the laws are meant to block. The gun Hammar claims he also declared to U.S. Customs and border protection is a .410 gauge antique Sears Roebuck shotgun.

But Mexico‘s top diplomat to the U.S. said the letter of the law must be followed.

“Regardless of what he may have declared or stated to CBP agents and then to Mexican Customs authorities, the sole introduction or possession of this type of weapon (not withstanding its intended use or year of manufacture) in Mexican territory constitutes a federal crime in Mexico and is not subject to any prosecutorial discretion,” Sarukhan said.

Varon-Levy disagreed, saying no one can make the argument the antique, small-gauge shotgun is anything resembling a military weapon. He said the prosecutor and his team can’t even agree on specifics of the rifle.

Perhaps the biggest bone of contention Hammar’s family and legal team have with Sarukhan is the ambassador’s pledge that Hammar will be held “in conditions that ensure his well-being and his rights.” Already, Hammar, who suffers post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan, has been denied an interpreter at court appearances, had his life threatened and has been chained to a steel bed.

Two days after his arrest, Hammar’s parents received a midnight extortion attempt by a male caller who said he “owned” the prison, giving credence to speculation that the criminal elements control CEDES prison.

The ambassador also neglected to appreciate the Nov. 23 incident where Hammar was brought to court before the judge — there are no jury trials in Mexico — and asked to plea without his lawyer or even the arresting customs agent present.

Sarukhan claims in the letter that, had Hammar pleaded guilty at a Nov. 23 appearance, he would have likely been released. But Varon-Levy said his client was brought before a judge with no attorney present and no way of understanding what was happening. And despite Sarukhan’s claim, conviction on the charge carries a potential penalty of 15 years in prison.

In his letter, Sarukhan alluded to the fact there will be no wiggle room for negotiation and that Hammar is going trial.

“This circumstance requires that he remain under detention during the duration of his trial,” Sarukhan said.

A trial date is set for Jan. 17.

Source: Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Pal of jailed Marine Jon Hammar recounts pal's last day of freedom in Mexico

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The fellow Marine who was with Jon Hammar when Mexican customs officials arrested him for carrying an illegal shotgun said his friend made every effort to follow the law, but got bad information from officials on both sides of the border.

Ian McDonough, 27, told FoxNews.com that four U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents told Hammar before he crossed into Mexico that as long as the required permit, which he completed, was submitted and he declared the gun to Mexican authorities, there would be no problem in bringing the vintage shotgun across the border.

“Jon was told to fill out a form with his name and the specs of the rifle and show it to the customs agent on the Mexican side,” said McDonough, who was traveling with Hammar in an RV to Costa Rica, where they planned to hunt and surf. “I don’t know what they expected Jon to do after they gave him the registration form and sent him on his way.”

Hammar, who was arrested Aug. 13, was charged with a federal level weapon felony and faces up to 15 years in a Mexican prison for what his travel companion said was a breakdown in communication at the U.S.-Mexico border. He has been held in the notorious CEDES prison ever since.

McDonough said Hammar was willing to leave the rifle at the Brownsville, Texas, border station and pick it up when he returned. If the CBP agents had adequately explained the potential consequences of being arrested in Mexico, Hammar would never have taken the shotgun across the border, McDonough said.

“If they looked at Jon and told him not to take it, he wouldn’t have,” McDonough said. “He tried to do everything legit.”

Michael Friel, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said it would be unlikely an agent would have led Hammar to believe he could have brought the shotgun, which had once belonged to his grandfather, into Mexico.

“CBP does not provide advice regarding the laws of foreign governments,” Friel said.

Friel also said that given the information available, it is unlikely an investigation will be undertaken into the U.S. agent’s alleged action.

But McDonough insisted that Hammar was so concerned about regulations that he even wanted to know what the tax would be for crossing with the numerous surfboards the avid surfer also carried.

Hammar’s attorney, Eddie Varon-Levy, said even if Hammar lacked necessary permits for the gun, he should have had the gun confiscated and received a fine, not a federal charge of aggravated felony of possessing a weapon used by the military.

“High-ranking Mexican military officials told me neither the rifle nor the ammunition is used by the military,” said Varon-Levy.

In an exclusive interview with FoxNews.com, McDonough described the harrowing last day of freedom for his friend.

As they made their way into Mexico in a vintage Winnebago after stopping at U.S. Customs in Brownsville, Texas, Hammar and McDonough were met by a Mexican official who told them to proceed over the bridge and into Mexico where they would meet a customs agent.

McDonough said Hammar readily told the Mexican customs officials he had the shotgun to declare and showed them the form he was given on the U.S. side.

“They told us to go into a building to fill out some forms,” McDonough said, thinking they were probably going to have to pay a small fine.

But things quickly turned sour.

“I told Jon, ‘I think we are going to get arrested,'” McDonough said.

The two Americans were told to get in a truck with police, who took them on a 30-minute drive through Matamoros to the city jail.

“We still didn’t think it was going to be a big deal because the police were joking with us, kind of like treating us as ‘dopey’ tourists,” McDonough said.

While in the jail, McDonough said he struck up a conversation with Mexican inmates who said they were surprised to see the Americans in the jail for such a minor infraction that should have been settled with a fine. McDonough said the police station and jail he and Hammar were initially brought to was nothing like a U.S. lockup.

“It was just terrible, the toilet, sink, and water supply were in the same place,” McDonough said. “There was no real evidence room so when we got inside there was cocaine and weed in the open.”

Hammar and McDonough spent most of the day being ignored in the jail, were told they were going to have to spend the night because it was too late to see the judge, McDonough recalled.

It would be two days before the men were able to see a public defender who did not speak English.

“I was lucky enough that I spoke some Spanish,” McDonough said. “They let me go because Jon took full responsibility.”

McDonough said he paid a $20 fine and was required to have his two thumb prints taken.

While standing outside the jail, McDonough was horrified to see his friend in handcuffs being led to a truck that would take him to the notorious CEDES prison.

“He told me to get out of Mexico as fast as I can because with both of us in jail nothing good can happen,” McDonough said.

McDonough said he and Hammar planned the surfing trip, which was to last a few months, to deal with the trauma of war. McDonough, who like Hammar is a combat veteran, is concerned about his friend and the absurdity of a weapons charge.

“We saw enough killing, we just wanted to get away,” he said.

Hammar is scheduled to have a court date Jan. 17.

Source: Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Supporters of Marine Jon Hammar wage social media campaign to win his freedom

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The plight of Marine veteran Jon Hammar, who has been in a Mexican prison for four months on what is being called a trumped-up federal weapon charge, has gained social media momentum, with a growing campaign calling for his release.

Anchoring the effort is www.facebook.com/FreeJonHammar, which has not only maintained news updates on his case but has also served as a venue for concerned citizens to express their frustration and anger at how the 27-year-old veteran of multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan is being treated in the notorious CEDES prison in Matamoros, Mexico.

“We never leave a brother behind. We never leave a Marine behind. We have to do something,” screams the title of the page.

Hammar was arrested Aug. 13 in Matamoros after he declared to Mexican customs agents a shotgun he planned to use for hunting in Costa Rica with fellow Marine veteran Ian McDonough. McDonough was also arrested, but later released because he did not own the weapon.

Prosecutors contend the rifle, an antique .410 gauge shotgun, is used by the Mexican military, a fact which has been refuted by high-ranking military officials, according to Hammar’s attorney Eddie Varon-Levy. The Sears Roebuck model shotgun also falls within the parameters of Mexican regulations for bringing a hunting rifle into the country. Hammar’s only perceived failure was to have the appropriate documentation.

Hammar’s arrest and confirmed incidents of death threats, extortion, and being chained to his bed in a prison controlled by members of the Los Zetas and Gulf Cartels have fueled national anger, which has been vented on the Facebook page.

With nearly 4,000 likes, the sentiments are vividly clear.

“Look i am a combat vet i am so tired of our government doing nothing……i have my own weapon and ammo and i know of other vets who would willing go and do what our government want do andthat is to go down and get him…..NO ONE LEFT BEHIND,” said Mike Walters in a post.

While many contributors advocated direct military SEAL-like rescue missions, others expressedfrustration in failed diplomatic efforts.

“This is an absolute outrage, where is our government? This man served this country and is anAmerican citizen,” said a poster identified as Anthony Greene.

U.S. Consulate officials in Mexico told Hammar’s family there is little that can be donediplomatically because of Mexican sovereignty.

Some of the Facebook comments provided political and economic suggestions.

“Boycott travel to Mexico. When the Mexican government admits that they are powerless over the drug cartels — why would we support them?” said Debbie Blair.

Seeing a lack in tangible diplomatic support, Hammar’s supporters are petitioning the White House for action.

Jon Hammar Sr., said his daughter, Jon Jr.’s younger sister and classmates at Wingate University in North Carolina, launched the petition campaign to bring her brother home. Hammar Sr., said, for his daughter’s safety, he requests keeping her from the press.

There are currently two active petitions. One at www.Change.org and the other directly petitioning President Barack Obama and the White House for action,https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/help-bring-jon-hammar-home

As of Saturday there were more than 15,500 signatures on the presidential petition, which requires 25,000 for review. Cited in the reasons for the petition are civil rights and liberties, human rights, and the rights of veterans and families.

Hammar supporters can also go to the Twitterhashtags #freejonhammer and #bringjonhammarhome.

Joseph J. Kolb is a regular contributor to FoxNews.com

Source: Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Gun that landed Marine Jon Hammar in Mexican prison was legal, says veteran guide

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The gun that landed former Marine Jon Hammar in a notorious Mexican prison was legal under that country’s federal laws, according to a well-known hunting guide who leads ventures south of the border.

Robert Beall,of Tall Tine Outfitters of Mexico and formerly host of the Pursuit Channel television show “World of Hunting,” said the vintage Sears Roebuck shotgun that Hammar declared to Mexican customs officialsin Matamoros, Mexico, Aug. 13 while on his way to Costa Rica should not have landed the 27-year-old Hammar in prison. He’s been held at the infamous CEDES prison for more than four months awaiting trial for carrying an illegal weapon.

“Based on what I have read, he was totally within the parameters of the law in terms of the weapon,” Beall said.

Even if Hammar did not have the proper permits, carrying the weapon did not merit prison time, according to Beall.

“People are usually fined and released if they don’t have the appropriate permit,” Beall said.

The charge Hammar faces, according to his attorney Eddie Varon-Levy, was aggravated felony of having a weapon used by the Mexican armed forces, which is punishable up to 15 years in prison.

The Mexican federal prosecutor is arguing that Hammar Jr.’s 24-inch length barrel falls one inch below the federal requirement of 25 inches.

Varon-Levy said not only is the prosecution team unable to come to a consensus about how to actually measure the rifle, he was told by high-ranking Mexican military officials that they don’t even use the .410 gauge shells fired by the gun, which once belonged to Hammar’s grandfather and is considered an heirloom by his family.

“The federal weapons law and hunting laws are in direct conflict with each other,” Varon-Levy said.

Mexico typically reserves strict enforcement of the gun laws governing shotguns to those with barrels less than 20 inches long, and firing shells no larger than 12-gauge. Hammar’s was .410, the lowest gauge shotgun shells commercially manufactured.

Hammar admitted to Mexican officials he was planning on doing small game hunting, which the gun was appropriate for. His mistake, according to Beall, was not having the appropriate permits. The consulate certificate he should have provided may be obtained from any Mexican embassy or consulate upon presentation of a letter from the hunter’s local police or sheriff’s office verifying that the hunter has no criminal record. This certificate is also necessary for obtaining the military gun permits, which is issued by the army garrison in the state where the individual is going to hunt.

Varon-Levy said his argument is steeped not in the lack of appropriate permits, but the classification of the rifle and ammunition.

“He only faces one charge and that deals with bringing a weapon used by the military into Mexico,” Varon-Levy said. “It wasn’t concealed and Jon demonstrated he was in the mental state and had the intent to follow the law on both sides of the border.”

Hammar completed the required paperwork in the U.S. for the weapon according to Varon-Levy. He has yet to obtain these documents.

“In a worst-case scenario, Jon should only have been fined for this,” Varon-Levy said.

Hammar claims a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent told him the gun was okay to take into Mexico, but the agency said it is not policy to provide information to as to what another country’s laws are.

“Due to privacy, CBP does not comment on the specifics of an individual’s processing,” said Mike Friel, spokesman, U.S. Customs and Border Protection. “CBP does not provide advice regarding the laws of foreign governments.

This has been refuted by Hammar’s parents and Ian McDonough, who accompanied Hammar Jr. on the trip and was also arrested but later released. They claim U.S. agents told Hammar the gun was legal to carry in Mexico.

Hammar remains in the notorious CEDES prison in Matamoros, Mexico, a facility experts say is controlled by Los Zetas and Gulf Cartel members.

Since his incarceration in August, Hammar, who fought for the Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, has endured threats against his life, isolation for his own protection in a transformed storage closet where he was also reportedly chained to a bed. Varon-Levy said a court date is scheduled for Jan.17.

Hammar’s plight has sparked outrage among politicians and supporters. A Facebook page,http://www.facebook.com/FreeJonHammarhas been established to raise awareness and garner support.

Source: Fox World News

News, Politics, Government

Mexico making example out of Marine with trumped up charge, says lawyer

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A Marine languishing in a Mexican prison on what his supporters call a trumped up gun charge was made an example by an overzealous prosecutor in a case that begged for discretion, his lawyer said.

Jon Hammar Jr., who was caught just inside Mexico‘s border with his grandfather’s antique, Sears & Roebuck shotgun while on the way to Costa Rica with a pal, should have been scolded and sent on his way minus the family heirloom, said Eddie Varon-Levy. Instead, Hammar has spent the lastfour months in one of Mexico‘s most dangerous prisons. Varon-Levy blamed the outgoing administration of President Felipe Calderon and his attorney general, Marisela Morales, who he said took their zero tolerance approach too far.

“The administration of Felipe Calderon and Attorney General Marisela Morales has had the attitude that they have to make examples of people that laws have to be enforced,” said Eddie Varon-Levy, 52.

Varon-Levy, who is an international law attorney with offices in Mexico City and Los Angeles, Calif., said the customs agent who nabbed Hammar and the prosecutor who charged him could have used discretion – and common sense – instead of filing the federal weapon charge charge against Hammar.

“They could have just taken the gun and not filed any charge,” he said. “This case should not even be tried.”

Morales has been lauded for her efforts in the midst of Mexico‘s violent drug war by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and First Lady Michelle Obama.

Hammar, a Marine who fought in Iraq during the siege of Fallujah, was arrested at the U.S.-Mexico border between Brownsville, Texas and Matamoros, Mexico Aug. 13, after he thought he legally declared a shotgun an American border agent allegedly gave him permission to take into Mexico.

“With the old administration you were guilty until proven innocent or ran out of money,” Varon-Levy said, “but with the new administration I am confident things will change favorably for my client.”

Enrique Pena Nieto took office as Calderon’s successor as Mexican president Dec. 1. The election of Pena ousted the PAN party’s short reign in Mexico and marked a return to the PRI party which ruled Mexico for 75 years. Varon-Levy said he hopes the new administration will use reason in enforcing the law. In Hammar’s case, he was jailed on a technicality that still hasn’t been fully explained. There is a conflict in how the officials are measuring Hammar Jr.’s rifle for its legality as well as its caliber and whether it is military grade. When Hammar declared the shotgun to Mexican customs agents, he was arrested because rather than the legally permissible 25-inch barrel, his was 24 inches. Even that is not clear.

“The prosecutor and investigator can’t even agree on the length,” he said.

Since he was initially detained, Mexican officials have not exactly followed such slavish devotion to the letter of the law, said Varon-Levy. The attorney has filed a motion alleging Hammar’s constitutional rights under Mexican law were violated when he was not provided an interpreter at the time of his arrest. Prior to filing the charges with the PGR, Mexico‘s attorney generals office, the border agent was supposed to explain the charges through an interpreter, which never happened, according to Hammar’s father, Jon Hammar Sr.

“Jon signed off on the charges anyway because they told him to do what they say and he’ll get out of jail faster,” Hammar said.

Prosecutors attempted to try his son on a felony weapons charge without his attorney or the agent who arrested him present in the Matamoros federal courtroom Nov. 23, the distraught father said. Varon-Levy and the Hammars made arrangements to be present, but were then told the proceeding was postponed until January. Then, on the original date and with no one from his team present, Hammar was brought from the prison by police and ordered to plead guilty to the charges that hold a sentence of between 5-15 years, Varon-Levy said.

“They claimed it was an administrative snafu,” Hammar Sr. said. “This is the reason why we finally went public about Jon’s arrest. Not only have we lost faith in the Mexican judicial system, we fear for our son’s safety.”

Ricardo Alday , spokesman, Mexican Embassy in Washington D.C., defended prosecutors’ actions in the case.

“The law is very clear, if you enter Mexican territory with a weapon restricted for the exclusive use of the Army, you incur a federal crime, whether you declare it or not,” Alday said.

But Hammar’s family and legal team say they are trying to battle the charges even as they fight for his life. On the second night he was imprisoned in the notorious CEDES prison in Matamoros, Hammar Sr. received a midnight call from an unknown man threatening his son’s life unless he paid $1,800. And Hammar, who suffers fromPost Traumatic StressDisorder from four combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan remains in the Mexican prison, has also been chained to a bed in a storage-like closet to separate him for his own safety from the general population which includes members of the violent Los Zetas and Gulf drug cartels.

His parents, who live in Palmetto Bay, Fla., say they’ve gotten little help from the U.S. StateDepartment. They said they appreciate the help the U.S. Consulateprovided in getting the message across to Mexican officials to protect their son from other inmates, but said other than that, there doesn’t seem much the U.S. government can do.

“According to the consulate they can’t get involved in the legal matters of a foreign country but they could provide a list of attorneys which essentially came out of a phone book,” Hammer Sr. said. “They told us they couldn’t give us any legal advice.

“It makes me feel helpless.”

Joseph J. Kolb is a regular contributor to FoxNews.com

Source: Fox US News