A Texas oil field worker has been detained in one of Mexico\u2019s most dangerous prisons for nine months after crossing the border in an \u201chonest accident\u201d \u2014\u00a0while his family pleads for his safe return.<\/p>\n
Caden Hawkins, 23, has been locked up on weapons charges at Cereso Estatal No. 3 in Juarez since March 2, when he unknowingly crossed the border in Columbus, New Mexico, while trying to return home to Hallsville after a job, his heartbroken mother, April Thomas, told KLTV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thomas said her son\u2019s GPS directed him to the US\u2013Mexico border without him realizing it, and he didn\u2019t understand where he was until it was too late to turn around.<\/p>\n \u201cI am on the phone with Caden, and he starts telling me the speed bumps are so bad in this town he\u2019s in and then the next thing you know he is telling me that he couldn\u2019t turn around. We hear men around him yelling in Spanish,\u201d Thomas said. <\/p>\n Caden Hawkins has been imprisoned on weapons charges at Cereso Estatal No. 3 in Juarez since March 2, after inadvertently crossing the border at Columbus, New Mexico. Facebook<\/p>\n The 23-year-old oil field worker filmed the tense exchange on his phone moments before he was hauled away in handcuffs.<\/p>\n His mother later learned he was detained for having a pistol and ammunition with him \u2014 a firearm he was legally licensed to carry \u2014 and insists it was an \u201chonest accident.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy son is not a criminal,\u201d she said, insisting her son \u201cdoes not deserve this.\u201d<\/p>\n Hawkins\u2019 sister said her brother\u2019s detainment has been \u201cone of the hardest things any of us has ever endured.\u201d<\/p>\n Hawkins with his older sister, Haley Nicole Hawkins. Facebook<\/p>\n \u201cTo hear him on the phone sounding distraught has taken a toll on all of us,\u201d Haley Nicole Hawkins said.<\/p>\n Since his arrest, the family has spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to bring him home and is now begging lawmakers to intervene.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need somebody that is more powerful than we are,\u201d Thomas said. <\/p>\n A photo shows signs at the Columbus border crossing into Mexico, warning travelers against smuggling firearms. AP<\/p>\n East Texas State Rep. Jay Dean claimed that Hawkins is being used as a \u201ccash asset for a corrupt federal judge in Juarez, Mexico,\u201d and that his \u201cfamily has been extorted for months.\u201d<\/p>\n Dean claimed Hawkins\u2019 family is being \u201cforced to pay over $1000 a week so Caden can have hot water, toilet paper, and semi-protection from violent inmates.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is absolutely unacceptable and we need to ban together and force our federal government to BRING CADEN HOME,\u201d Dean wrote on Facebook. <\/p>\n The front gate of Cereso Estatal No. 3 in Juarez, where Hawkins is currently being held. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images<\/p>\n Dean \u2014 who said he is \u201cdetermined\u201d to bring Hawkins home by Christmas \u2014 joined US Sen. John Cornyn in calling for federal intervention and urging the public to contact government offices, KETK<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n Lawyers for Hawkins\u2019 family said his nine-month-old appeal may not be reviewed for up to two years and warned he could face a sentence of up to four years.<\/p>\n Cereso Estatal No. 3 is regarded as one of Mexico\u2019s most dangerous prisons, marked by violent riots, overcrowding, gang and inmate-run hierarchies, and repeated security failures.<\/p>\n