Interview Denied, Affects American Held In Mexico

Interview Would Have Provided Needed Exposure for Rebecca Roth

We just received word from Shane Bishop of Dateline NBC that he would not be allowed to do an on camera interview with Alyn Waage at the Federal Corrections Institution in Butner, NC where Waage has been held since his conviction. The granting of this interview was, I have been told, at the sole discretion of the warden of that facility.

This is sad news, not only for Rebecca Roth, who might have benefitted from the exposure, but to the American people, as well. Waage, a former Edmonton, Canada resident, masterminded what's believed to be the largest Internet-based fraud scheme in history, bilking 15,000 investors in 59 countries out of about $60 million. Many of those investors are Americans; Americans who have not seen their money returned.

Many of those assets are in Real Estate in Mexico. What we do know is that the Mexican government has refused to release any of those properties to be sold and money returned to the investors who were scammed. It is a shame that the American public has been denied this knowledge until now.

Legal Advice

Imagine $60,000,000! That’s an awful lot of money, isn’t it? Now imagine $50,000. That’s paltry by comparison, right? Especially considering that the $50,000 was not obtained for personal gain or personal use. That is the amount that Rebecca Roth was brought up on money laundering charges for and convicted of.

Keep in mind that the dollars that went through her accounts were given to her as personal compensation and funds to pay expenses on the properties controlled by Alyn Waage for an extended time while he was going through his own legal process. Bills are paid in cash in Mexico and Rebecca did not have signing authority to any of Waage's business accounts because she was not in a position to have such authority. She was only an employee, hired to pay bills and arrange travel. This was all done prior to any proof that Alyn Waage was the nefarious individual that he turned out to be. Rebecca sought counsel before continuing her employment and accepting any funds to continue the job she had been employed to do.

Rebecca sought legal advice from Alyn Waage’s own attorney. She spoke to him once and on that occasion only. He advised her that to continue doing what she was employed to do was of no issue and not breaking any laws. That attorney was prominent Guadalajara lawyer Marco Antonio del Toro, previously the attorney for President Vincente Fox. Talk about reliable legal advice… who are you going to trust if you can’t trust the advice of this guy? Still, she was rounded up and made an example of years later. An example of how effective President Fox was during his administration. You see, each time a Mexican president leaves office there is a big push to get all of the potential criminals worthy(?) of prosecution off of the streets and into the already overcrowded prison system. “See how many we caught?” is the message sent.

A Presidential Pardon Might Be In Order

I heard today that our own outgoing President George Bush, like his predecessors, will be pardoning a large group of people, some in his own administration. We won’t go into those pardons in this forum. In any event, there are many requests for pardons coming into his office, one of which is for athlete who has confessed to using illegal substances.

Without my own personal judgment of any other individuals that may or may not be granted a pardon, don’t you think that someone who has been convicted unjustly in a foreign land and returns to America under a Prisoner Transfer might be worthy of such consideration? I do. This may be a viable course for Rebecca should she not be acquitted in her appeal.

Such consideration can happen for Rebecca Roth only if there are exposure to the issue, awareness of the travesty of the injustice and some lobbying on the part of Congressional representatives to the administration. Here is a chance for George Bush to make a positive difference in someone’s life; a chance to show how an American president leaves office. So, again, whether this can happen depends on the pressure exerted on the people that can make a difference; your Congressional representatives.

Remember Brenda Martin? The Canadian government stepped up for her. What will our government do for Rebecca Roth? We won’t know unless we ask.

Involvement

What can you do to help? Get involved. Have some empathy as opposed to apathy we Americans typically enjoy and speak out to your own representatives in Congress. Contact your own state and federal representatives and demand that they look into the case and into their hearts and ask them to take action for an American. You can contact your members of Congress through THIS LINK

An Open Letter from Rebecca Roth

After speaking with my youngest son, I decided to write this open letter as an appeal for help.

In late 1998, I moved from my sheltered and successful life in Lake Oswego, Oregon to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. I did this for several reasons. I had always dreamed of living in a more tropical climate and after noticing that my asthma symptoms declined while vacationing in Mexico, I felt it was a great reason to realize that life long dream. Additionally, I had for many years wanted to have an opportunity to be more creative and run my own business. I was able to do that by opening a small boutique in Puerto Vallarta, where I designed and sold my own jewelry and sold pottery and clothing, as well. It wasn’t always easy, but it was personally fulfilling and I had a little money as a cushion while getting established.

In January of 2001, I went to work for a wealthy Canadian businessman, Alyn Waage, who ran an international investment business. I felt fortunate to have this extra income while I was also working at establishing my own fledgling business.

In April of 2001, the businessman was arrested at the Puerto Vallarta airport and charged with smuggling and money laundering. Ten days later, although he was carrying 1073 cashier’s checks valued at $4.5 million, the money laundering charges were dropped. From prison, still facing a smuggling charge, Alyn Waage asked me to continue paying his household expenses. I consulted an attorney about this and was told clearly that it was not against Mexican law to help someone while they are in prison. Also, I had read in the newspaper that he was being held for smuggling drugs. I believed that the charges were erroneous, because his business was off-shore investments and everyone knows drug dealers don’t deal with bank cashier’s checks. So, I agreed as his employee, to make the household payments on Waage’s 9 luxury condos and homes in Puerto Vallarta. On August 10, 2001, Alyn Wage was released from prison, the smuggling charges dropped, or so I was told. Later, he was rearrested.

It should be noted that in Mexico, the postal service is all but non-existent; non-functional. For example, in Puerto Vallarta, an area of approximately 250,000 people, there are eight postal carriers and they ride bicycles. At least it was like this during the time that I paid those household bills. Also, one never uses checks in Mexico. All telephone, utilities, household staff and condo association dues are paid in cash and in person, sometimes requiring a wait in line for hours to make one payment. In July 2001, two large deposits were made into my bank for the purpose of maintaining these properties indefinitely.

In February 2006, long after all the smoke had cleared and Alyn Waage had been in prison in the US for a number of years already, the Mexican AFI, the equivalent of the US FBI, came into my store and took me away, putting me in a truck and driving me through the night (a horror I will never forget) to the Reclusorio Feminal (Women’s Prison) at Puente Grande where I have been ever since.

The authorities shamelessly stole all of the money I had in my purse. I didn’t understand what they were saying for the most part due to the language barrier and there was no interpreter to assist me, as well as no legal representation or offer of a public defender. They were ale to convey to me that they wanted me to give a deposition, just as I had done back in 2002. They told me that I would be returned to Puerto Vallarta the next day after I made the declaration. I slept on a concrete floor with 16 other women, none of who spoke English. I was not, in fact, returned to Puerto Vallarta the next day. I was being held and had no idea for what or for how long. Soon, to my complete shock, I found I was being charged with money laudering and Organized Crime.

Later, when they visited, the US Consulate promised that Mexico would have to follow due process, yet they stood by as the “process” lumbered along until April 2008 when I finally had a chance to vindicate myself. I feel that I proved my innocence in front of at least five Canadian TV cameras (there were none from the US), several from the Mexican media, my Consulate and my family. The judge, Luis Nunez Sandoval, was entirely uninterested in the comprehensive material I presented, including five charts fully explaining my non participation in the charges against me. Little did I know that he had already written up his sentence BEFORE the Audience of Vista, which is the closest thing to a trial that exists in Mexico.

While my saga has moved on, my sister, who thankfully lives within driving distance of the Puente Grande prison, has faithfully brought me food, clothing and phone cards every week. Although she speaks no Spanish and fears driving in Guadalajara, she has been my rock and my connection to the outside world that I was taken from. She has tried to get the word out to the people in the US and its representatives in Congress and the media. There has been no response, save a few articles by a small handful of local newspapers in my home state of Oregon. She has drawers of correspondence to my Consulate, my US Senator from Oregon, the US Embassy here in Mexico and the media. No one even responded or visited when news of the sentence came. It confirmed my worst fears from the day I arrived here. I was doomed and no one seemed to care. This was due process.

I was sentenced as a money launderer and a member of Organized Crime to a total of nine years. Alyn Waage, the actual money launderer and organizer of this large internet fraud was sentenced to 10 years in a low security prison in North Carolina by the US Justice System.

By virtue of the fact that I still resided in Puerto Vallarta, along with the cook and bodyguard, it should be obvious that I was just an employee like them, and I was not a knowing recipient of illegal money, nor a part of any crime family. The people who received huge amounts of money, property and other valuables were family members and Canadians. I AM AN AMERICAN. In addition, they left Puerto Vallarta in 2001 and never came back. If I were guilty of this crime, I would not have stayed in Puerto Vallarta, trying to make a living with my ceramic business, then my boutique. When I bought the boutique for $10,000 US there were two locations. In less than one year, I had to close one of the locations because I didn’t make money. I went to work in Real Estate to try to make some money.

If I were a part of this “gang” I would have had access to money and would not have needed to work. As I have stated since the beginning, I did not know these people until Michelle Higgins was a customer in my ceramic shop. Why would they confide in me or any other employee that they were committing a crime? That would not have been logical or smart for criminals to do that. I knew her as a customer for almost a year before I went to work for Alyn Waage. It has been 5 years since I worked for him. He was arrested a few months after employing me to pay some bills. I still have proof of that, but no one in this country is interested in seeing the proof.

I had never been arrested in my life. After Alyn Waage was arrested, I continued to live honestly, running my business, employing Mexicans, paying IMSS, paying taxes Infonavit and volunteering to help the community by being the only American woman in the Rotary Club International, responsible for over 200 Becas per year. I don’t have a drinking, drug or other personal problems. I was conned by the people I worked for accepting them as they represented themselves; as rich Canadians with an Investment Club. I paid the bills and made travel arrangements. That is the extent of my involvement.

The Canadian cook for Alyn Waage, Brenda Martin, was convicted and sentenced for money laundering on the same day as I was. Within 10 days, the Canadian government had her on Canadian soil. She is now free and at home. Her nightmare is over. I can only dream of the day that my nightmare is over and wish that my country would come to my rescue, as well.

It is a shame, but my basic rights and those of the Canadian, Brenda Martin, were violated under the watchful eye of the US Consulate. From the very beginning, there have been violations of my rights under International Treaties, such as housing me with convicted criminals. The US Consulate was aware of this and did nothing. The Canadians insisted something be done, so they convicted us. Now, they are no longer in violation of the treaty. Of the International Treaties, I am told there were 17 violations of my rights. The Director of this prison has even expressed misgivings of the US Consulate's ability to help one of its citizens.

This ordeal has underscored a number of things for me.

*How insignificant we are as US citizens. We seem to mean nothing to our representatives and elected politicians.
*How the agreements and treaties between countries are flagrantly disregarded.
*How dangerous Mexico is for the thousands of Americans desiring to retire here because of affordability, lifestyle and climate.
*How powerless, as a group, foreigners are here. For example, we can be expelled if we protest or speak against the corrupt government here.
*How in legal issues here, it is not possible to get a fair trial. It does not exist. Either you pay large bribes or you are condemned… no matter how much evidence there is in proof of your innocence and despite the manner in which the law is written. Corrupt officials interpret those laws to condemn. Why? Because they can’t lose their jobs if they condemn you but, they can if they don’t!

I need your help. Please write your congressman, the news media and to anyone that could help me. Please spread my story. This could happen to anyone from the US that is living in or traveling in Mexico.

I don’t belong in jail. I never did, but I have been rotting here for more than two and a half years. My family is suffering, as well. I decided to write this because of a conversation with my youngest son. He told me that “We have no hope. The system is corrupt and the US doesn’t care. You were used as a scapegoat. There’s no one to turn to and we had better face facts.”

I hope he’s wrong.

Rebecca Roth
From my cell at Puente Grande Reclusorio Feminino

The low profile didn't work... Time for Attention

The article below was published in the Guadalajara Reporter on April 26, 2008, right after Rebecca's conviction.

There have been numerous articles written in Canada about Brenda Martin and this article in Mexico about Rebecca Roth, but only a small handful written about Rebecca in the US press, mostly done by Margie Bouhle at The Oregonian.

Why has there been so little press in the US? Is the US media as blind in drawing attention to one of its own in trouble as the US government is in protecting the rights of one of their own?

You'll have to draw your own conclusions on that one, but if you find this story as appalling as I do, please contact not only your local and state representatives through THIS LINK , but contact any media individuals you know as well and challenge them to take up this story and bring attention to this woman's plight. If you ever travel, wouldn't you want someone to do the same for you should you wind up in this predicament?

As you read through this article, you'll see that one of the things that the prosecution claims is that Rebecca was laundering money. She was concerned after Alyn Waage's arrested and sought legal counsel about continuing to pay his bills. She was told that it was OK, because "It isn't against the law for you to help someone that is in jail." That advice and quote are from Alyn Waage's own attorney during the only conversation Rebecca ever had with him. That same attorney was previously the attorney for Vincente Fox, former President of Mexico. Considering the source of that advice, she felt she that she was breaking no laws and continued to do her job.

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'Other woman' caught in Tri-West snare ready to file appeal'

Written by Dale Hoyt Palfrey
Saturday, 26 April 2008
www.guadalajarareporter.com
Printed with permission

While her case was relegated to secondary status in the media feeding frenzy that has played out at the Puente Grande prison complex, Rebecca Roth ended up with the short end of the stick in the verdicts handed down April 22 by Judge Luis Nuñez Sanchez.

The 49-year-old U.S. citizen was found guilty on two separate criminal counts related to the Tri-West international investment scam, carrying a nine-year sentence and a fine of 44,812 pesos.

Rebecca Roth has deliberately maintained a low profile through-out her two-year legal ordeal.

Frustrated and angry over what she sees as a gross miscarriage of justice, Roth says she will continue her fight for freedom and appeal the court decision early next week.

Roth recognizes that the appeal process will take at least six months, but she is determined to take that avenue before considering a cross-border judicial arrangement for transfer to a U.S. prison.

“I have to appeal,” she told the Guadalajara Reporter in a telephone interview on Wednesday. “Otherwise I’ll never get a chance to prove my innocence.”

Unlike her Canadian co-defendant Brenda Martin, Roth has deliberately maintained a low profile throughout the two-year legal ordeal she has endured due to her employment ties with Alyn Richard Waage, mastermind of a notorious multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme that bilked thousands of unwary investors.

Roth is now convinced that the intense pressure from Canadian government officials, politicians and the nation’s press calling for Martin’s acquittal and release backfired and worked against both women.

“The judge had 30 days to weigh final arguments. With the foreign press camped out on his doorstep he sped up his decision without taking the time to carefully review the case,” Roth lamented.

At a final hearing, held April 14, Roth eschewed histrionics, opting instead for a low-key, methodical presentation of her defense arguments. She had spent two weeks preparing for her statement by wading through the 325-page English translation of the prosecution summary to construct a visual aid she labeled the “Prosecution’s Wall of Evidence.” She hoped to tear down that wall brick by brick by pointing the judge to contradictions, non-sequiturs and other details that seemed to speak in her favor. The chart shows rectangles representing 98 documents that were used to prove her guilt. Yet 88 of those documents do not even mention her name. Roth demonstrated other fine points with more illustrations, including a depiction of green “money bags” that underscore the huge discrepancy between the millions that changed hands between Tri-West and investors and the paltry amounts that went through her own accounts.

The effort to prove her innocence seems to have been in vain. She says the judge was clearly distracted by the gaggle of reporters hovering around his desk.

Roth has always acknowledged working for Waage as a personal assistant in the early months of 2001, a job she says entailed handling minor administrative duties for her well-heeled employer. These included making travel arrangements for his family and “business” entourage, paying utilities and miscellaneous household bills for his various Puerto Vallarta properties and other tedious day-to-day tasks.

Tri-West began unraveling in April 2001, when Waage was busted at the Puerto Vallarta airport with more than 1,000 undeclared cashier checks stashed in a brief case, worth a total of around 4.5 million dollars. He was in jail for four months, but when released after posting bail, promptly fled to Costa Rica. He was arrested there in September 2001 and extradited to the United States to face trial.

Roth’s activities in the four-month lapse while Waage was in Mexican custody are what got her into trouble. She agreed to continue helping her boss while he was behind bars, drawing from deposits made to her personal investment account to cover his expenses. She says there are receipts that account for every peso, but Mexican authorities look at the transfer of funds as proof that she was involved in laundering Waage’s ill-gotten gains. She denies any knowledge of Waage’s nefarious business dealings, or any suspicion that he was involved in criminal activity until he went on the lam.

A full year passed before Mexican authorities questioned her in regard to Tri-West. Little did she know that she was part of an investigation that would lead to an arrest warrant being issued against her only a few weeks later.

With a clear conscience, Roth had remained in Puerto Vallarta long after other members of the fraud gang had either been detained to face justice in the United States or fled the country. She stayed on with proper immigration status to run a small ceramics business. Then, on February 13, 2006, police picked her up. After several hours at the Puerto Vallarta police station she was hauled off to Puente Grande outside Guadalajara in a pick-up truck under cover of night. Officers told her she was only being taken in to give a statement and could expect to return home the next day. She has been trapped in an increasingly tortuous legal nightmare ever since.

So far, Roth’s case has not captured much interest from the press in her home state of Oregon. Her written pleas for support from Senator Gordon Smith and U.S. Ambassador Tony Garza have gone unanswered. Her principal rock has been a sister, Barbara Moodhe, who makes weekly treks from her lakeside home in San Juan Cosala for family visits at the prison. Otherwise she relies on cordial relations with many of her fellow inmates.
“The women here have been very supportive and tried to comfort me, but right now there is no comfort.”

As she heads into the next legal round, Roth is simply clinging to the hope that she will draw a neutral judge to hear her appeal, someone who will weigh the evidence fairly and listen to what she deems to be the obvious logic behind her defense case.

(End of Guadalajara Reporter story)

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If you have finished reading this post and have read the previous posts in this blog, you are getting a pretty good idea of what has happened here. If you have feelings of injustice stirring in you, please take action and contact your members of Congress through THIS LINK because it is now time for Rebecca to get attention and justice.

Please pass this blog to everyone you know and ask them to read it and take action. It was the people in Canada that demanded that the press and government do something to help Brenda Martin and it will take the same involvement in the US.

I will be posting more articles with even more riveting details soon so, please come back and find out more.

If you have any questions or something to add, please contact me through my profile information.

Send this blog to others NOW...

Where’s the money? Where are the rights?

Where's the money?

I find it quite interesting that the US government continues to send money to Mexico, yet most of the victims in the TriWest scheme were US citizens. Their money has never been returned and much of it is in the hands of the Mexicans. Part of the agreement Alyn Waage made with US prosecutors was to give them the money trail – which he apparently did. Where is the money? Rebecca Roth certainly doesn’t have it.

If Rebecca is charged and convicted of Use of Illicit Funds, having paid Alyn Waage's personal bills for him, how is it that an attorney can accept a fee for defending Alyn Waage and not face the same charges? Would that attorney not have been paid from the same source of Illicit Funds? If Rebecca is guilty, then why were the charges against Alyn Waage in Mexico reduced to “being in receipt of contraband documents?” Waage was busted at the Puerto Vallarta airport with more than 1,000 undeclared cashier checks stashed in a brief case, worth a total of around 4.5 million dollars. He was in jail for four months, but when released after posting bail, promptly fled to Costa Rica. He was arrested there in September 2001 and extradited to the United States to face trial.

Where are the rights?

Rebecca Roth's conviction in Mexico is the end result of poor representation from the very beginning, it seems. From the original attorney assigned by the court, who was ineffective, had no plan and made no visits or follow through in documentation, to the lack of any interest or action by the US Consulate. More than likely, had the Consulate acted in a timely manner, Rebecca would have been released within 72 hours. However, after pursuing the case for over two years, before taking Rebecca to trial and convicting her on baseless information, the Mexican jusdicial system needed to save face.

Now, with that conviction, Ravi Candidai at the US Consulate in Guadalajara has apparently stated to Rebecca that he cannot do anything and that the US Consulate’s role is no longer about the case, but about the sentence and that the International Treaty obligation supersedes the rights of the individual. Did he do anything from the beginning? It certainly doesn't seem so and Rebecca was frustrated with their lack of involvement from the beginning.

I have been told that our own FBI, in their investigation of Alyn Waage and others, had no interest in Rebecca Roth. I also understand that Alyn Waage signed a statement that Rebecca Roth had no involvement or knowledge of the illegal activities. The Mexican court apparently threw that out, as Mr. Waage was not considered a credible witness.

Why is it that the US State Department does not have the ability to protect the rights of a US citizen and states that the treaty between the two countries supersedes the rights of the individual? Are those treaties not designed to protect the rights of citizens of those countries?

I believe that Rebecca was railroaded and that the US government and its agencies have done nothing to help a citizen of the United States. At every turn, those that are in a position to help a US citizen seem to either turn a blind eye or state that there is nothing that they can do, when it is their job to protect the rights of that US citizen.

I am neither an attorney nor a human rights activist. However, I have been told by individuals that followed this case very closely from the very beginning that the rights of the Canadian Brenda Martin (also simply an employee), arrested at the same time as Rebecca Roth, had her rights violated in many instances. I have been told that those rights were violated under not only the “International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights” and the Vienna Convention, but under the Mexican Constitution and Mexican law, as well. One does not have to reach very far to deduct that those same violations occurred to Rebecca Roth at the same time, in the same place and by the same individuals in authority. It is our Consulate’s duty to ensure her rights are respected under the laws of the country she is being held in. What happened?

This could happen to any of us, literally at any time, any place in the world. We are, when traveling or living in a foreign land, subject to the laws of that country but, shouldn't our country rise to the occasion when our rights are violated? Isn't that what we have all been raised to believe? Isn't that why we have always traveled so freely?

Please take a moment and tell others of the plight of this woman who believed in following her dream, only to wake up on the downside of paradise. Please contact your State Representatives and Senators and ask that they do someting for one of our own.

Find and Contact your representative HERE

"Prisoner in Paradise... The true story of Rebecca Roth"

This the true story of Rebecca Roth, the mother of my children and my ex-wife (and still close friend) that followed her dream, acted in good faith and wound up in a Mexican prison. Sentenced to 9 years for something she should not have been charged with, let alone convicted of, she was charged and convicted of Use of Illicit Funds and Organized Crime because of her employment with Alyn Richard Waage, mastermind of the Tri-West Investment Club scam. The story begins many years ago and is not concluded yet.

National exposure for this story is way overdue and I hope that you will take an interest and then take some action on behalf of an honest woman and mother of two boys that fell into a dark hole in a place many consider Paradise. Rebecca Roth considered it Paradise until February 13, 2006, the day she was arrested.

You can catch up quickly with this story by “googling” Tri-West Investment Club or following this link to that search… Tri-West Investment Club

There have been a handful of articles, but here is a good sampling and will give you some great background:

The Willamette Week March 14, 2007
The Oregonian April 27, 2008
The Oregonian May 1, 2008
The Star May 5, 2008
San Antonio News May 1, 2008
The Oregonian June 1, 2008

There is much behind the story of Rebecca Roth and her quest for a life in paradise in Mexico. The few articles that have been written tell some of her story. However, the reality is that very few know all of the facts and the mystery behind this travesty of justice. There are many things that are simple facts and can be laid out in a way that need not be challenged and do not need any interpretation. Some of the issues go beyond simple facts and into the realm of politics and corruption, as well as a blind eye by her own government representatives.

Rebecca Roth was employed in the mortgage business for many years. In one mortgage company, she managed a branch office where she was trusted to oversee the process of application, processing and underwriting of home mortgages. As time went on, she was part of an executive team writing procedure manuals in the home office of a large national mortgage company. Later, she was an underwriter for a large mortgage guarantee insurer. Certainly, her career was one of competence and trust in an environment where the outcome of her decisions affected many in both a personal and financial way, not only from a consumer point of view, but from that of her corporate employers.

Rebecca suffers from asthma, a serious and chronic condition whose symptoms disappeared after a week on vacation in Puerto Vallarta. It was this and her introduction to other Americans that were living a simple and happy life in Puerto Vallarta that initiated the idea “if they can do this, why can’t I?”

Like many individuals, Rebecca Roth tired of the corporate world and its demands. Unlike many individuals, Rebecca chose to go follow a dream. She longed to live in paradise and was willing to do so in a way that did not dictate waiting until she was financially able to lay by a pool or play golf as the days wiled away, her responsibilities behind her. Instead, she took her children and a few possessions with a limited amount of money to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. This was not an easy decision and life would not be easy, but Rebecca is a resourceful individual. Because of her strong work ethic, she was confident that she had the ability to adapt to a new environment and meet the demands of finding a way, personally and financially, in a completely different culture and economic forum. She did just that.

Driven by her desire to be creative and self sufficient, Rebecca found a downtown space to set up a clothing and jewelry boutique where she could take items in on a consignment basis or take her limited funds and buy clothing at wholesale. Over time, tourists would discover the wonderful little shop of great values in an out of the way corner of Puerto Vallarta and many of these people would return year after year as they vacationed, always earning “bragging rights” for the special finds they brought back from Rebecca’s little boutique. She finally had the opportunity to show her creative side by having locals make the jewelry she would design. These were always some of the favorite pieces that would fly out of the shop and show up back in the US with their proud and adventurous new owners. Rebecca had found her dream and was living it.

As with many people in the retail world of a tourist driven market, Rebecca had her share of financial difficulty during the “off” seasons. So, when an acquaintance introduced her to the Canadian gentleman that seemed to gather a crowd everywhere he went, throwing money around and treating his friends like kings and queens, it was difficult for her to refuse his offer of a part time job to pay his bills for the many properties he had in the area, a job that had been held by a less trust worthy Mexican individual up until that time. An additional income would go a long way to fill the gaps in retail traffic for her small boutique. It is not uncommon for the wealthy to employee individuals to do this in Mexico, especially in Puerto Vallarta, where you don’t send a check to pay for your water and other household expenses, but go stand in a line to pay bills in cash and get a receipt on the spot. It is a different culture in many ways than we relate to in the US.

So, Rebecca took the job, glad to have the additional income and proceeded with her life in paradise, acting in good faith and feeling trusted by the rich Canadian. Little did she know that her trust was misplaced and would be the source of many days, months and years of grief and separation from her family and the life she had planned.

It should be understood that as an American in Mexico, Rebecca Roth is subject to their laws and judicial system. I personally do not expect any one representative of the US Congress to be able to wave a magic wand and solve her personal dilemma. I am, however, surprised at the complete apathy on the part of US representatives in terms of trying to find a way to assist her in some manner. The only response from her representatives in the US Congress from her home state of Oregon has to do with a prisoner transfer not being possible until she drops the appeal of her case in Mexico. A kind of "our hands are tied" type of rhetoric. There does not seem to be any focus on whether Rebecca Roth has been treated fairly and humanely, but simply what to do with her now that she has been convicted in a foreign land.

To use a little literary license, I interpret their actions and statements as saying that Rebecca must drop her appeal in the Mexican judicial system and sign a legal statement that says, “OK, I’m guilty. Please bring me home where I can serve time in a US Federal Corrections Institution and lose all of my rights as an American citizen, because I am now a convicted felon.”

Here's where the waters get murky...
A simple element that seems to be repeatedly overlooked or considered by these "representatives" is this... this crime was international and was fully and vigorously prosecuted in the US. In their investigation of Alyn Waage, our own FBI did not find sufficient cause to even question Rebecca Roth, although they were fully aware of her. Additionally, in the federal prosecution in Sacramento, which landed the Canadian, Alyn Waage, in prison, the prosecution did not find sufficient reason to have Rebecca Roth testify. If the legal system that put the real crook away finds no value in this woman, then why is the Mexican legal system holding this American citizen hostage? Some possibilities are:

1. 
   Extortion... Before he was apprehended by US law enforcement agencies, Waage and others were held briefly by Mexican authorities. He claims half-a-million dollars was demanded of him by the prosecutor in order to wind up the Mexican system’s case against him. He agreed to pay. However, he did not honor the agreement as he was able to receive a favorable judgment by fighting the case with a new lawyer. In the end, he skipped bail in Mexico and was apprehended in Costa Rica and extradited to the US. He has personally written to me and claims that Rebecca Roth and Brenda Martin (a Canadian citizen arrested at the same time as Rebecca, who has subsequently been returned to Canada and released within nine days upon arrival in Canada) were being held as hostage to pursue the half-a-million dollar deal.



2. 
   Saving Face… The Mexicans need to “Save Face,” a very important aspect of their culture. Five years after Waage’s arrest, the Mexican’s swooped down on Rebecca Roth and arrested her. After more than two years in prison, they finally convicted her of Organized Crime and Use of Illicit Funds. In the thousands of pages of documents presented in her case, she is mentioned only a handful of times and those references only substantiate that she was an “Employee” and not that she was involved in any nefarious activities. It seems important that after all of this that, they could not simply find her innocent. Rebecca believes that she was literally “already sentenced” the day they arrested her.
   

*It should be noted that Rebecca received the minimum sentence for the charges, but those sentences add up to 9 years; 4 years for Organized Crime and 5 years for Illicit Use of Funds. Rebecca believes that the sentencing was a concession on the part of the judge and that he may have felt he was “going easy” on her. It was the minimum sentence allowed. A person convicted of possession of 1 Gram of Marijuana is usually sentenced to 10 years in Mexico. The interpretation of evidence and laws and the subsequent sentencing guidelines are vastly different than they are in the US. As can be sen in one of the articles above, The Oregonian reports that the Mexican prosecutor appealed for Rebecca Roth's sentence to be increased to 23 years. Alyn Waage, the mastermind of this scam, the true criminal, only received 10 years in the US and his son, another individual truly involved, is out of prison in the US.

Even though there have been a handful of newspaper articles and the website on her behalf, these have not been able to achieve any level of awareness that would cause much of a public outcry. The Canadian media did a great deal to bring pressure to bear on the Canadian government on behalf of the other employee of Alyn Waage, arrested and tried along with Rebecca Roth, and she has been returned to Canada and is free. The Canadians certainly did more for one of their own than has the US media and government.

In speaking with Rebecca recently, she is very despondent and feeling very much ignored and unrepresented by her country. When she reflects on Brenda Martin and the press and media exposure that she received from the Canadians and the assistance that she received from her government, her plight, based on what she sees for herself, sends her to a very dark corner of her mind. She was in tears when we last spoke.

Rebecca has been very strong for the last 2 1/2 years, believing that her innocence was proven. Unlike the US, in Mexico you are guilty until you prove yourself innocent. That is tough to do from a prison cell. The Mexican justice system widely and creatively interprets their laws and what is considered evidence.

Today, Rebecca Roth is not feeling strong or hopeful. She is living with 14 true criminals in a cell designed for 6... all because she took a job. Can you imagine yourself in that situation? All because you took employment in good faith?

If you are at all moved by this issue and would hope that someone, anyone would do all that they could to help you if you did find yourself in this type of dilemma, please take this newly found information and contact your elected officials in the House of Representatives and The US Senate and ask that they do whatever they can. Call your local press and media professionals and ask that they begin a campaign to bring this story to the front and make America aware of the plight of one of its own. This is certainly more important than what Paris Hilton is wearing or how protracted and messy a Hollywood divorce can be.

No one person can make this right for Rebecca Roth. Not one newspaper reporter, not one talking head, not one Congressional Representative or US Senator and certainly not just one individual reading this can make a difference by themselves, but together with awareness and a little empathy instead of apathy, just maybe something can happen for Rebecca Roth.

Please do what you can to bring that level of awareness to others and make a call to action to your elected officials and any media contacts you have locally or nationally. Hopefully, someone will make the right contact that can make this story no longer ignorable. Act as if it was you or a loved one in that cramped jail cell in Mexico and do what you would ask others to do… and please do it now.