Corruption prosecutor wants items kept sealed

EL PASO -- The lead federal prosecutor in the ongoing public corruption investigation that involves 12 separate cases and 80 persons of interest said that most sealed documents in the case need to remain that way and that no hearing on what should become public is needed, according to a court filing that became public Wednesday.

But, in a footnote, the government said it would look into unsealing some documents.

'By separate motion, the government will seek to enlarge the Court's previous disclosure by moving to unseal redacted versions of the transcripts to the sealed hearings,' the government wrote.

'They will be provided to the Court for its review and approval in a sealed fashion, since no unsealing order has yet to be issued.'

The government's motion was written by Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Kanof and is in response to a request by a media outlet in El Paso to have all sealed records open. Kanof, who is the government's prosecutor in the investigations, also wrote that the request by El Paso Media Group may be moot because one guilty plea was entered in open court.

'The concern of the possibility that all proceedings in the future will exclude the public and media is contradicted and rendered moot by the (Fernando) Parra plea,' the government wrote.

Parra, a politically connected computer technician, became the ninth person to plea guilty in the ongoing public corruption case. He did so in July in open court.

Parra had been implicated in the investigation before his pleading.

All of the other eight guilty pleadings were entered in a closed courtroom, and the majority of documents in those cases remain sealed.

The El Paso Media Group, which publishes Newspaper Tree, filed a motion in August in federal court asking that the sealed documents relating to the eight people who have pleaded guilty in the FBI investigation be unsealed, and that future proceedings also be open.

The government had until this week to respond and is asking that the group's request to be a part of the case be denied. The government also wrote that future aspects of this case may be opened.

All court proceedings in this case last week involving former El Paso Independent School District Trustee Salvador "Sal" Mena Jr. were open. He was arrested on charges filed in a sealed indictment, but as soon as he appeared in court, the document was unsealed.

Mena's Tuesday arraignment is also expected to be open.

U.S. Marshals Service officials said Mena was still in custody Wednesday afternoon, but where he was being held could not be disclosed.

Jail records show that Mena was released on bond Friday, and speculation about Mena's health surfaced Monday when emergency crews went to his home.

EMS and police reports show that emergency personnel went to Mena's apartment at 2:18 p.m. Monday and that a man was taken by ambulance to a hospital. Reports that Mena remained at the Peak Psychiatric Hospital in Santa Teresa have not been confirmed.

A news release sent by the Marshals Service over the weekend stated that Mena was prematurely released from jail and that he should not have been released before properly signing and submitting his bond.

The news release said corrective action would be taken by the Marshals Service office. Mena was back in custody Tuesday. It was unknown whether he had filled out the bond paperwork, and public court records do have him going back to court until Tuesday.