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A mexican A drug cartel member who dramatically staged his own death to avoid capture has been sentenced to more than 11 years in US prison for his role in laundering money for one of Mexico’s most violent drug trafficking organizations.
Cristian Fernando Gutierrez-Ochoa was arrested California In November 2024, were living under a false identity.
He is particularly linked to notorious nemesis Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. Jalisco New Generation (CJNG) The boss is known as El Mencho, as he is the father of Gutierrez-Ochoa’s long-term girlfriend.
Gutierrez-Ochoa was wanted in Mexico in 2021 on suspicion of kidnapping two members of the Mexican Navy. According to an affidavit, this act was allegedly done to secure the release of El Mencho’s wife, who had been arrested by Mexican authorities. Drug Enforcement Administration Representative.
US District Judge Beryl Howell Washington Sentenced to 11 years and eight months in federal prison. Judge Howell underlined the cartel’s reach, saying that CJNG is also a “dangerous force” within the United States.
Howell commented, “It’s a dangerous way to make a living.” “It’s a dangerous way to live.”
Addressing the judge, Gutierrez-Ochoa accepted responsibility for his “mistake.” Speaking through a translator, he said: “I regret all of this. I will never make a mistake like this again in my life.”
Prosecutors had sought a 14-year sentence for the 28-year-old, who pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to launder millions in drug trafficking proceeds, calling him a “dangerous, trained operative” secretly embedded in the US to carry out instructions from the CJNG.
Prosecutors wrote, “The CJNG kills, tortures, and corrupts in order to traffic massive amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, and other drugs into the United States and elsewhere – all for profit and enrichment, which in turn funds a cycle of violence, devastating countless lives and communities.”
However, his lawyers requested a sentence of seven years, arguing that his remorse was genuine. “Mr. Gutierrez’s rehabilitation is not demonstrative,” he wrote. “It reflects a young man who now fully understands the magnitude of his mistakes and who seeks to rebuild his life with integrity.”
Authorities revealed that El Mencho had informed associates that he had killed Gutierrez-Ochoa for lying, but in reality, Gutierrez-Ochoa had staged his own death and fled to Mexico. river bankCalifornia. Prosecutors detailed how he and his US citizen girlfriend enjoyed a “CJNG-sponsored life of abundance” in a $1.2 million home that was purchased with looted cartel money.
state Department A reward of up to $15 million has been offered for information leading to the arrest of El Mencho. in February, donald trumpThe administration has designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization, providing new tools for prosecuting cartel associates. Judge Howell has also sentenced other CJNG figures, including El Mencho’s brother-in-law, Jose Gonzalez. ValenciaIn June he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, and his son, Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, was sentenced to life in prison in March.