Bootmaker to Bush and Fox Jailed in US

[Ghost in the Machine]

Bootmaker to Bush and Fox Jailed in US
Published: 9/22/07, 12:25 AM EDT
By LISA J. ADAMS

GUANAJUATO, Mexico (AP) - A bootmaker to world leaders, including President Bush and Vicente Fox, is in a Colorado jail, charged with money laundering and conspiring to illegally smuggle the skins of protected animals into the U.S. to provide exotic footwear for high-end clients.

The arrest of Martin Villegas - and Mexico's raid of a warehouse filled with hundreds of cowboy boots and belts made from endangered species - has raised questions about how much Fox knew of the scheme and whether the former Mexican president purchased illegal boots himself.

Before Fox left office in December, Villegas created a special brand of cowboy boot named after him, which was manufactured in Mexico's shoemaking capital, Leon, in Fox's home state of Guanajuato.

The Mexican bootmaker also produced footwear for Fox's bodyguards, Cabinet members, relatives and friends - including Bush, a fellow lover of ranchwear who accepted a pair of ostrich-skin cowboy boots as a gift during a visit to Fox's ranch in 2001.

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