House of Death ICE supervisor is still in a commanding position

With all the recent media frenzy over the House of Death, it seems only appropriate to update readers on the status of one of the key players in the mass-murder case.

Giovanni Gaudioso served as the special agent in charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in El Paso during the murder spree carried out in Ciudad Juarez with the help of an ICE informant, Guillermo Ramirez Peyro.

The informant, while working for ICE, helped run a torture and death house in Juarez for a narco-trafficker named Santillan, who was in charge of a Juarez cell of the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug organization.

Gaudioso (along with U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton in San Antonio) was the recipient of the now-famous letter from Sandalio Gonzalez, who was heading up DEA’s field office in El Paso when the House of Death murders took place between August 2003 and mid-January 2004.
Gonzalez’ Feb. 24, 2004, letter to Gaudioso concerning the ICE El Paso commander's role in the House of Death begins as follows:

Since our meeting on January 25, 2004, and our telephone conversation on February 14, 2004, I’ve had an opportunity to digest what you’ve said as well as to conduct a careful review of the material in this case. I am now writing to express to you my frustration and outrage at the mishandling of the Heriberto Santillan-Tabares investigation that has resulted in unnecessary loss of human life in the Republic of Mexico, and endangered the lives of Special Agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and their immediate families assigned to the DEA Office in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico.

There is no excuse for the events that culminated during the evening of January 14, 2004, and absent a complete and logical explanation of these events, which led to the emergency evacuation of our personnel and their families in Ciudad Juarez, I have no choice but to hold you responsible for this unfortunate situation.

Well, apparently the brass at ICE, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), had their own concerns about the House of Death murders and the role Gaudioso might have played in facilitating the bloodshed. In the aftermath of the Juarez carnage, Gaudioso was transferred to Washington, D.C.

But DHS sources say he was moved to the East Coast only until things had quieted down a bit in Texas and all the blood had been effectively swept under the rug of the bureaucracy.

That may seem like a cynical read of the situation to some.

If so, then how can we account for the fact that Gaudioso has since been transferred back to Texas to take on another high-ranking position in an ICE field office?

The debacle of the House of Death mass murder certainly couldn't have been viewed as a career-enhancing leadership performance for him within ICE. Or was it?

According to a recent ICE document leaked to Narco News, Gaudioso is now the No. 2 man (deputy special agent in charge) for ICE in Houston.

DHS sources tell Narco News that, technically, going from the rank of special agent in charge (SAC) to deputy special agent in charge (DSAC) is a demotion, of sorts.

However, those sources also say Gaudioso – also known as GG -- was allowed to keep his Senior Executive Service (SES) pay grade. That fact, along with the cost-of-living increase he received for his move to Houston, the DHS sources add, means that he actually received a salary bump for his trouble.

“GG allegedly was downgraded from SAC to DSAC as punishment with regard to the HOD [House of Death],” one DHS source says. “But if you do the math, he actually received an approximate 10% salary increase with his ‘punishment.’ "

Based on how the wheels of bureaucracy turn within DHS and ICE, it is not really surprising that an ICE official under a cloud like Gaudioso would be put back in the field in a leadership role, particularly if it helps to keep the lid on a cover-up of the government’s complicity in mass murder.

Now how many other jobs out there offer those kind of perks?