Posted on 03/07/2009 8:40:12 AM PST by AuntB
A federal judge in Laredo sentenced a hitman for the feared criminal organization the “Zetas” to life in prison for the kidnapping and execution of two Texas teens.
Gabriel “Pelon” Cardona-Ramirez appeared before U.S. District Court Judge Micaela Alvarez at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Federal prosecutors said the 22-year-old American citizen from Laredo was a hired assassin or “sicario” for the Zetas and the Gulf Cartel.
A 42-count federal indictment in his case alleged that several hit squads or “sicario” cells operated on both sides of the U.S/Mexico border.
Prosecutors said Cardona-Ramirez and others killed members of the rival Sinaloa Cartel in an attempt to forcibly gain control of the lucrative Nuevo Laredo-Laredo and IH-35 corridor.
Cardona-Ramirez was charged with 22 crimes:
* One count of drug conspiracy * One count of money laundering conspiracy * One count of conspiracy to kidnap * One count of conspiracy to use a firearm in a violent crime * Five counts of using a firearm in a violent crime * Eight counts of interstate travel In aid of racketeering * Four counts of using a juvenile to commit a violent crime * One count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine
Cardona-Ramirez has been in custody since April appeared in court in December where he admitted to the kidnapping and murder of two Laredo teens: 19-year-old Jorge Alfonso Aviles and 14-year-old Inez Villarreal. The two were abducted from a Nuevo Laredo nightclub on March 30, 2006.
Federal authorities said Cardona-Ramirez climbed through the ranks of the Zetas and eventually became the leader of one of the “sicario” cells.
He was personally charged for his involvement in five murders and four attempted murders committed on the American side of the border as well as the murders of Aviles and Villarreal in Nuevo Laredo.
Ah...you can take the boy out of Mexico, but ya can't take the Mexico out of the boy. Many of these gangbangers are anchor babies and products of the last amnesty. They have no allegiance to this country and its laws.
I’m still puzzled as to what makes a murder punishable by death vs life - this is Texas, right? Those two should have been given the death sentence ....
He was sentenced to death...death by old age with 3 squares, board and room etc all paid for by taxpayers.
Or, line him up and just shoot him.
Seriously, this type of animal scum is not worth the time or effort to keep him breathing.
“He should have gotten death. “
Perhaps his young age saved him. Perhaps a sympathetic judge. Usually, if the perp is a Mexican citizen, we don’t kill them because we don’t want to ‘upset’ our ‘allies’. Not sure why this ‘citizen’ was salvaged.
Just remembered, I think he was turned over to Texas by Mexico on the proviso that he not be executed ....
Just remembered, I think he was turned over to Texas by Mexico on the proviso that he not be executed ....
Anybody got any idea what the motive for the kidnapping and killing of the two Americans was? It seems unlikely a 14 year old would be a big player in the drug trade.
I thought Texas had the death penalty.
Ping!
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