American Among The Dead in June's Matamoros, Mexico Prison Riot

Borderland Beat Posted by Pepe

Chris Tondre admitted that his brother was no angel. But, he said he is outraged by the amount of time that his brother had been held in a Mexican prison without a trial and by the lack of answers he had gotten from authorities on both sides of the border.

The family of an American citizen killed in a Matamoros prison riot early last month continues to search for answers.

On the day of the June 9 riot, James Tondre called his wife from inside the cell to tell her goodbye, said Chris Tondre, a San Antonio man who has been searching for answers about his brother’s death and has been working to get his 39-year-old brother’s remains repatriated back to the United States.

“He called her and told her, ‘Baby, I love you. Goodbye,’” Chris Tondre said. “He told her he knew he was going to die and then she heard his screams when he was burning up until the line went dead.”

The riot began shortly after noon at the state prison just outside of Matamoros, in the rural community of Santa Adelaida.

“We can confirm that James Tondre died on June 9 in the Matamoros prison. We offer our condolences to the family and are providing the proper consular services,” said an official with the U.S. Department of State.

Generally when a U.S. citizen dies abroad, consular officials assist the family with the various steps needed to make the final arrangements while observing the laws of both countries, the official said.

Tamaulipas state officials have said the riot began in the prison’s central and eastern pods, where members of organized crime groups fought for control of the prison and set fire to the complex.

The officials confirmed at the time of the riot that eight inmates had suffered injuries and were rushed to local hospitals for treatment.

Since the initial confirmation, officials have said nothing else about the riot.

Calls to various law enforcement agencies in Tamaulipas were met with either a “no comment” or with a response that a news release would be sent late last month. But The Monitor still has not received any additional response.

A Tamaulipas law enforcement official confirmed that the riot killed three men and injured seven others. The official asked to not be named, citing security reasons, but confirmed that the riot was a struggle for control of the prison between two warring factions of the Gulf Cartel called the Metros and the Cyclones.

The Cyclones are the forces loyal to the family of Gulf Cartel’s legendary leader, Osiel Cardenas Guillén, and controlled the Matamoros prison under the leadership of Cardenas’ brother–in–law, Victor Alfonso “El Cuate” Martinez Perez, who was killed alongside Tondre during the fire in the eastern wing of the prison, the official said.

It was during that riot, that 39-year-old James Tondre and another inmate ran to their cell and locked the door from the inside for refuge until the situation calmed, his brother said. But before authorities arrived to help, their cell was apparently set on fire, Chris Tondre said.

“He called her and told her ‘baby I love you, goodbye,’” Tondre said. “He told her he knew he was going to die and then she heard his screams when he was burning up until the line went dead.”

By the time the flames were put out, Tondre had suffered second- and third -degree burns to most of his body, his brother said. He was one of the inmates that Mexican authorities rushed to a local hospital for treatment, the brother said.

Tondre’s wife rushed to the hospital, but authorities there wouldn’t let her see her husband, Chris Tondre said. They told her he was doing well.

“They were supposed to call her when she could see him, but five hours passed and they never called her, so she checked back and they told her ‘oh, he died,’” Chris Tondre said. “Supposedly he died from burns to his lungs from breathing in the heat, but it all sounds very fishy.”

Personal background from the Monitor:

Mexican police arrested James Tondre in Matamoros in 2009 during a raid that targeted various members of “La Maña,” a local gang.

The late Tondre had worked with Mexican criminals since 2005, stealing trucks from the San Antonio area and West Texas, then driving them south of the Rio Grande. Many trucks stolen from Texas end up in the hands of Mexican drug cartel members, who favor stout vehicles with big engines to navigate the northern Tamaulipas border’s varied urban and rural terrains.

“He told me that being white was what helped him get across with the trucks because they wouldn’t even look at him twice,” Chris said. “He was the low man on the totem pole but then he began making connections.”

Chris Tondre admitted that his brother was no angel. But, he said he is outraged by the amount of time that his brother had been held in a Mexican prison without a trial and by the lack of answers he had gotten from authorities on both sides of the border.

“We weren’t surprised (by his passing) we had been expecting it for some time,” he said. “He would tell us that he felt like he was in a bad movie that he couldn’t get out of.”

Tondre served time at a Texas prison from 2002 to 2005, records show. After his release, he began stealing trucks and driving them to Mexico for $500 to $600 per trip. While he was never caught for the stolen cars, in 2009, James fled to Mexico after a drug arrest in Snyder, Texas.

Rather than facing a probation violation — and more time behind bars — he fled to Mexico in a stolen truck, evading police during a pursuit, Chris Tondre said.

Once in Matamoros, Mexican authorities arrested him in connection with drug charges and criminal association with the gang, however his case never went to trial, the brother said.

“He would tell me that they kept pushing back his trial and our government never did anything to extradite him,” Tondre he said. “He had charges here for evading arrest, auto theft. He had like six or seven charges, and they could have extradited him.”

After years in the Matamoros prison, James climbed to the top of the food chain, rose through the ranks of the prison’s internal inmate structure, allowing him a nicer cell and the ability to avoid trouble. However in later months, he began to say he wanted to get beyond his criminal history to raise a family with his wife and their newborn son, who was conceived while he was in prison.

On his Facebook account, the late Tondre posted a photograph of his son on June 8, the day prior to the riot. He said he loved his family.

Since the riot, Tondre’s wife was able to get his remains cremated. The family awaits the wheels of the Mexican court system to spin and for a Mexican judge to sign off on the body's release so they can hold a funeral, Chris Tondre said.

“We agreed that half of the remains will stay with her and we will bring the other half home with out family,” Tondre said.

Despite his past, James Tondre will be remembered by his loved ones as a caring man who loved his son during the first four years of his life and was everyone’s favorite uncle, Chris Tondre said. As of Friday afternoon, Tondre’s wife was still waiting on paperwork to be able to bring her husband’s remains to the United States, the family said.

Brownsville Herald and foto from The Monitor