Response to a concerned citizen from US Senator from Oregon

The following is an email response from the office of Senator Ron Wyden to Marri-Beth Serritella, a citizen concerned about the lack of assistance from the US government for Rebecca Roth. We had received a very similar response from US Senator Gordon Smith of Oregon earlier in this process.

Marri-Beth was made aware of Rebecca's situation through Margie Boule's column in The Oregonian and she forwarded Senator Wyden's response to me.

Following Senator Wyden's response are my comments to Marri-Beth.


Dear Ms. Serritella:

Thank you for contacting me to share your concerns about the case of Rebecca Roth. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you may know, Rebecca Roth is a U.S. citizen and former resident of Lake Oswego, Oregon.
Ms. Roth moved to Mexico, and in 2001, went to work as an assistant to Alyn Waage. Later that year, Mr. Waage was arrested and convicted for running a Ponzi scheme; he is currently serving time in a U.S. prison. In 2006, Mexican authorities arrested and charged Ms. Roth with organized crime and money laundering for allegedly participating in Mr. Waage’s scheme. She has been sentenced to nine years in jail and has filed an appeal with the Mexican courts.

I want you to know that I understand your concerns about Ms. Roth’s unfortunate situation. Because of her appeal, Ms. Roth is ineligible for transfer to the United States under America’s prisoner transfer agreements with Mexico. Ultimately, whether to appeal her sentence in Mexico or to seek transfer to the United States is a decision that only Ms. Roth can make. Please rest assured that my staff and I will continue to follow Ms. Roth’s case closely. As we do so, I will keep you views in mind.

Again, thank you for keeping me apprised of your views on this important issue.

Please contact me if I may be of further assistance.

Sincerely,
Ron Wyden, United States Senator

To write to me, go to http://wyden.senate.gov/

Important Note:
Senator Wyden's comments state that Rebecca went to work as an assistant to Alyn Waage. This is NOT correct. She was, as stated in earlier posts on this blog, a part time employeee, hired to stand in line to pay Waage's household bills for his properties and arrange transportation for Waage and his family and business partners.


My comments to Marri-Beth Serritella:

This response from Senator Wyden is a standard piece of verbiage that has been cooked up and is accurate only to the extent that they will do nothing. It is nearly verbatim to the rhetoric from Senator Smith's office, simply taking the stance that there is nothing that can be done about a "Prisoner Transfer" while Rebecca's appeal is ongoing. We know all about the Prisoner Transfer and how that works, as we have had direct contact with the office of the Federal Public Defender that handles prisoner transfers. However, what this response does not address is the lack of assistance that Rebecca Roth was provided by the US Consulate and US State Department from the very beginning.

Had Rebecca been the daughter, mother or sister of any of these elected officials or someone of political or financial importance, you can be assured that the efforts and outcome would have been considerably different. That is the real issue and it has been swept to the back of the room and under a carpet in the corner.

So, it is apparent that we will get no assistance from our elected representatives as their "hands are tied" and as Rebecca was told, this is no longer about her case, but about the sentence. They don't seem to care and the US cannot readjudicate the case. The reality is that they can not do anything at this point other than to send the issue to someone that could, like the Secretary of State. All responses so far have been similar to what you have received from Senator Wyden, with elected officials choosing to throw their hands in the air and not to push the issue to a higher level of awareness.

Rebecca has written a lengthy letter to Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice. The Superintendant at the prison has assured her that she would get the letter to Sec. Rice. This was almost done as a challenge by that Superintendant to see if she would be proven right. She seems to be confident that she can make something happen for Rebecca after hearing from Rebecca that a Consulate official had no access to and could not communicate with the head of the State Department. She was quite shocked and has taken the stance of "By God, I'll get a letter to her." It will be sent to Ms. Rice with the Superintendant of the Prison's return address on the envelope. Rebecca's counselor in the prison has read the letter and indicated that she thought it was well written and was not negative. If these prison officials are correct, the letter should be received and received well. We will see.

Obviously, this assistance from the prison superintendant indicates that Rebecca is well respected and worthy of that assistance. This is one of the examples of the fact that anyone who has taken the time to look at and understand the circumstances of Rebecca's case can see right through the illusion of guilt that the Mexican judicial system has created.

Your concern and your efforts are very much appreciated, Marri-Beth. Please continue to get the word out. Send anyone that you communicate with to the blog about Rebecca at http://rebeccarothprisonerinparadise.blogspot.com/ because it is awareness that will be our ally at this point.

Letters of encouragement can be sent to Rebecca at vallartagal@hotmail.com which is the email account Rebecca has had for many years. Barbara is monitoring that account and will print letters and get them to Rebecca.

Thanks again for you support.

David Dickinson
Seattle, WA


NOTE:
I have recently sent an electronic note that I hope will reach Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. If you are reading this and would like to make a difference, send your own note through this Contact the State Department Link asking Secretary Rice to now get involved. In the area called Additional Information... Search by Topic: select Secretary of State.

Maybe with enough people reaching out, we can make a difference.