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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 21, 2016)
18 Wednesday, December 21, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Hearing on Authorities bust Bend gun traffickers councilor- elect residency set for Wed. Among the multitude of events canceled due to inclement weather was the scheduled hearing regarding city councilor-elect Richard Esterman’s residency. The hearing was resched- uled for Wednesday evening, December 21, at 6 p.m. Esterman is one of three Sisters City Councilors elected in November balloting and is slated to assume office in January 2017. His filing papers for the election, sub- mitted in July, listed his resi- dence as 153 N. Oak St. and indicated he would soon be moving to 329 Jefferson Ave. One of the requirements that must be met in order for a person to run for the office of City Councilor is that he must have been a resident of the city (within city limits) for 12 consecutive months prior to the election. Questions were raised prior to the election regard- ing whether Esterman was actually living inside the city limits, and a hearing was scheduled to resolve the mat- ter before the January seating of the candidates elected in November. Three people have pleaded guilty to charges related to a firearms trafficking ring taken down by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Seattle Field Division. The investi- gation concluded guns were being bought in Central Oregon and sold to gangs in California in exchange for money and drugs. ATF, working with the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team (CODE) and the Amtrak Police Department, with the assis- tance of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Police Department, the Lodi (CA) Police Department, Deschutes County District Attorney’s Office and the Sacramento (CA) Sheriff’s Department, investigated a firearms and narcotics traf- ficking ring that started in 2014 and ran through August 2016 in the Bend area. Jacob Quesada, 24, employed straw purchasers Cynthia Job, 22, and Dennis Job, 64, all Bend residents, to purchase guns from retail stores and private parties around the Central Oregon area. Soon after the firearms were purchased, Quesada would travel to Lodi and Stockton, California, areas via passenger trains, and sell them to alleged gang mem- bers in the Central California area. Investigators believed Quesada would receive cash for the firearms or would trade them for commercial amounts of methamphet- amine, which was later distributed throughout the Central Oregon region. There were more than 50 firearms purchased by the ring members from 2014 to 2016. Of those 10 were later recov- ered by law enforcement in violent crimes in California. Following the arrest of Qu es ad a i n Des ch u t es County, Oregon, investiga- tors from ATF and CODE executed two search warrants at Quesada and Cynthia Job’s residence, which is located in the Deschutes River Woods subdivision south of Bend, and within 1,000 feet of an elementary school. A second search warrant was simulta- neously executed at Dennis Job’s Deschutes River Woods home. During the execu- tion of the search warrants detectives located and seized a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, as well as other evidence of the illegal possession, distribution, and manufacturing of metham- phetamine and the illegal dis- tribution of firearms. During their arrest, ATF special agents and CODE detectives attempted to stop Quesada and Cynthia Job during a traffic stop. Quesada refused to immediately stop and led law enforcement on a short vehicle pursuit with their two children in the vehicle. Ultimately, Quesada stopped his vehicle and both he and Cynthia Job were taken into custody. The endangered children were later released to Oregon DHS Child Welfare. “Straw purchasers will continue to be investigated and prosecuted for violating the law,” said ATF Seattle Special Agent in Charge Doug Dawson. “Straw purchasers and firearms traffickers are responsible for the crimes committed with those guns. As a society we have to make straw purchasing as socially reprehensible as the crimes committed with those guns.” “The Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team is com- mitted to investigating and dismantling these types of organizations,” said CODE team Lieutenant Ken Mannix. “We will continue to work with our local, state, and fed- eral partners to ensure that those responsible for the traf- ficking of narcotics and fire- arms are held accountable to the fullest extent of the law.” Earlier this month all three pled guilty in Deschutes County Circuit Court. Jacob Quesada pleaded guilty to unlawfully furnish- ing a firearm in furtherance of a felony when he reasonably should have known a felony would be committed and the unlawful delivery of meth- amphetamine, and recklessly endangering another when attempting to flee from police during a traffic stop. Cynthia Job, longtime girlfriend and mother of Quesada’s children pleaded guilty to unlawfully furnish- ing a firearm, for unlawfully and knowingly transporting a firearm in furtherance of a felony, when she should have reasonably known a felony would be committed with a firearm. She also pleaded guilty to delivering metham- phetamine within 1,000 feet of school. Cynthia’s grandfather, Dennis Job, pleaded guilty to unlawfully furnishing a fire- arm, for selling firearms in furtherance of a felony when he reasonably should have known a felony would be committed with the guns. He also pleaded guilty to provid- ing false information on an ATF 4473 form during the purchase of a firearm. Best Wishes for a Wonderful Holiday and a Very Happy New Year. — From Our Farmers Family to Yours Call 541-588-6245 257 S. Pine St., #101 www.farmersagent.com/jrybka What will you wish for this season? Heads or Tails… You Lose Art Studio? Man-Cave? M New Garage? N WE CAN HELP! Loaner Cars Deductible Assistance Windshield Replacement 541-549-DENT 5 4 1 5 4 9 D E N T 332 W. Barclay Dr., Sisters — Manufactured in Oregon — 503-668-7211 www.wsbnw.com 855-668-7211 Sandy, Oregon “O Emmanuel, our king and our lawgiver, the hope of the nations and their Saviour: Come and save us, O Lord our God.” (Magnifi cat Antiphon, Vespers of December 24) Christmas Ch i Mass M S Schedule: h d l December 24, 2016 5:30 p.m. December 25, 2016 12 a.m. (Midnight Mass) December 25, 2016 6 a.m. (Latin Mass) December 25, 2016 10 a.m. Solemnity of Mary Mass Schedule December 31, 2016 5:30 p.m. January 1, 2017 10 a.m. St. E S Edward d d the h M Martyr R Roman C Catholic h l i C Church h h 123 Trinity Way, Sisters | 541-549-9391 | stedwardsisters.org | Very Rev. Andrew Szymakowski, J.C.L., Pastor