Las Vegas man accused of posting West Texas billboard threats says he wanted to prove a point

Published January 08, 2015

A Las Vegas man admitted to police that he painted drug cartel-style threats and hung two mannequins from El Paso billboards in an effort to show that people die because of the drug trade into the United States, according to arrest affidavits.

Police arrested Ryan Jean on May 25 at the El Paso International Airport as he tried to board a plane back to Las Vegas. Arrest affidavits say that three days earlier, he climbed the posts of two billboards to paint messages that read "Dying for Drugs" and "Plata o Plomo," which translates to "Silver or Lead" — an expression commonly used by drug cartels to intimidate people to either pay money, such as silver, or be killed with a lead bullet.

He also hung two mannequins from the billboards, something that prompted panicked calls to 911 lines. Mexican drug cartels are known to hang their victims from bridges as a way to convey messages and the signs painted in huge white letters on black background caused many to speculate whether businesses were being extorted in El Paso, a city located across the border from Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Jean faces two charges of graffiti, two charges of criminal trespassing and one charge of criminal mischief. He was booked into the El Paso County jail on May 26 and released after posting $21,800 in surety bonds the next day.

The affidavits say investigators found a fingerprint on a hardware store plastic bag used to line the head of one of the mannequins and an FBI search matched it with Jean. Also, Jean's fingerprints were found at the second billboard location.

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