SENTENCING – Eddie Galindo-Mendez, 44

On Nov. 9, Eddie Estuardo Galindo-Mendez was sentenced to just under 5 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to bank robbery. He admits that he robbed Lubbock’s Happy State Bank in November 2017. Dressed in a large coat, gloves, hat, and sunglasses, Mr. Galindo approached a teller and handed him a note threatening an active bomb. He then placed what appeared to be a pipe bomb next to the teller’s computer. After the teller surrendered the money, Mr. Galindo took the note and fled on a bicycle, leaving the purported bomb at the bank.  (The bomb squad later determined the device – galvanized pipe and wires wrapped in duct tape and connected to a cell phone – was inert.) The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms conducted the investigation..

PLEA – Michael Asagba, 20

On Nov. 13, Michael Asagba of Mesquite, TX  pleaded guilty to three counts of aggravated robbery and one count of using a firearm, during a crime of violence on November 13. Mr. Asagba admits to a string of food store robberies in Mesquite in late February. He now faces a minimum of 7 years and a maximum of 67 years in prison. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms investigated.

INDICTMENT* -- Adrian Martinez, 44

On Nov. 14, a federal grand jury indicted Adrian Martinez, a CPS worker, on one count of enticement of a child.  In September, Martinez contacted an undercover officer, who was posing as a 14-year-old girl, through the Skout social networking application and stated that he was looking for a friends-with-benefits situation.  He engaged in sexually explicit communications with the undercover officer and asked if the girl would skip school to meet him.   They agreed to meet at a Quik Trip in Haltom City on September 25.  When Martinez arrived, he was arrested.  During his interview later that day, Martinez stated that he had been chatting with five to six underage girls at the time of his arrest. The Texas Department of Public Safety and FBI investigated the case. 

* An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.