Figueroas husband, who specialized in drug trafficking during his years as advisor to prosecutors, was her chief collaborator on the book, which suggested that the elder brother of former President Carlos Salinas de Gortari and the assassinations of two prominent politicians in 1994 were linked to the countrys powerful drug cartels. They were found late Thursday when police traced an abandoned car to their house in the capitals Pedregal district, home to the stately mansions of former presidents, prominent intellectuals and writers. 1892, 1902-03, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989). the fateful night of the murders, the suspects only intended to kill the Horace Vega, who testified that he moved money for the group and acted as a confidential informant for the FBI, testified that Ibarra replaced Sanchez as the point man for the group's operations in New York after Sanchez was killed. Casimiro died the following day due to injuries sustained in the shoot out. 620, 136 L.Ed.2d 543 (1996), and cert. However, with respect to counts 14 and 15, the record citations that he provides in support of this proposition do not indicate that the funds at issue were not exported to Matamoros, Mexico. See, e.g., United States v. Levine, 80 F.3d 129, 135 (5th Cir. Garcia Abrego next contends, without explanation, that admission of the records violated Rule 404(b) of the Federal Rules of Evidence. Being a physician, I have to. Marroqun-Garca was arrested as he crossed the international border in October William Allen Hoffman testified that he delivered ten to twenty loads of cocaine for Medrano and that, when he delivered loads to New York, his contact person there was Sanchez. be both the operations manager and chief hit man for the cartel. Subsequently, FBI agents had local law enforcement officials stop the truck, and the driver was identified as Jaime Rivas. (2)A foreign certification under this section shall authenticate such record or duplicate. Upon Garca Abrego's arrest a book detailing the scale of bribery was located. the August release of their book on a powerful Mexican drug cartel, Correspondent Lucia Newman and Reuters contributed to this report. N.Admissibility of Foreign Financial Records. Garcia Abrego argues that the danger of unfair prejudice was exacerbated by the fact that the government offered no direct evidence that any killings actually occurred, but rather relied strictly upon hearsay statements. See United States v. Davis, 19 F.3d 166, 171 (5th Cir.1994). Section 3505 was not intended to add technical roadblocks to the admission of foreign records, but, rather, to streamline the admission of such records. United States v. Strickland, 935 F.2d 822, 831 (7th Cir.1991). Ironically, Garca Abrego was nowhere to be found. See Todd, 735 F.2d at 150. Rather, he contends that due process', fundamental fairness and an accused's meaningful right to some parity in the compulsory process of witnesses will [not] tolerate a system that permits only one side of the adversary process to utilize non-reciprocal incentives to entice witnesses. This court rejected a virtually identical argument in United States v. Thevis, 665 F.2d 616 (5th Cir. And for sure, they don't make them like that no more. R. Evid. Garca Abrego Saul Hernandez-Rivera, a reputed drug trafficker who was killed outside a bar There's lots of good sources about him all over the web, but I still need to read some "library-use only" archives at UT Austin, where he studied. While the ultimate determination of voluntariness is a question of law reviewed de novo, this court must accept the factual conclusions underlying the district court's determination of voluntariness unless they are clearly erroneous. The Government's Provision of Inducements to Its Witnesses. El Padrino of the Gulf Cartel. The government contends that Garcia Abrego made no specific admissions of wrongdoing, and Garcia Abrego does not specify the content of his statement. But I understand. . another driver now in custody murdered Balderas, Figueroa and their Norma Morena, a reporter for the newspaper, was also killed in the attack. 1956(a)(2)(A), which criminalizes the transportation, transmission, or transfer of a monetary instrument or funds from a place inside the United States to a place outside the United States with the intent to promote the carrying on of a specified unlawful activity. denied, 522 U.S. 1063, 118 S.Ct. Jaime Rivas Gonzales testified that he moved between thirty-three and forty tons of cocaine for the organization, and Carlos Rodriguez testified that he moved over fifty tons. Therefore, you must carefully evaluate the testimony of any government witness who is cooperating, or has cooperated, in exchange for or with the hope that the prosecutor will file a 5K1.1 motion or Rule 35 motion to reduce the sentence of the witness. and who could have inflicted it. That rumor started when the Cuban "narco-satanico" was in that same area peddling drugs and killing whites boys. But Garca Abrego was let go at the urging of prosecutors like Drug traffickers also have been charged in the deaths of journalists in regional state capitals in the past. In White v. Illinois, 502 U.S. 346, 112 S.Ct. This fact is important because it shows us that This court rejected the defendants' argument, noting that [n]o Fifth Circuit case has upheld a grant of immunity by a trial court, and our cases have strongly suggested, without specifically deciding, that courts lack such power under any circumstances. Id. We find Garcia Abrego's assertions in this regard somewhat dubious themselves. Crdenas was known for founding the para-military group Los Zetas as enforcers for the Gulf Cartel. There is a Stainless steel toilet/sink/water source combination. Mexico City officials are meeting with the new attorney As indicated in Part III.E, supra, we reject Garcia Abrego's argument that insufficient evidence existed to support his convictions for money laundering. foreigner on the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, Garca Abrego attracted and left prison. Those terms included medical treatment for his jailed brother's diabetes, one last trip to Colombia before his surrender, conjugal visits from his mistress, to be jailed in Guadalajara with some of his lieutenants for his own protection, and to allow himself to be taken in by the police commander of his choice. Pursuant to Garcia Abrego's orders, Carlos Resendez acted as an intermediary through whom other members of the group, including Oscar Malherbe and Luis Medrano, went in order to meet with Garcia Abrego. Garcia Abrego, 71, who was the first cartel leader to make the FBIs Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, was convicted in 1996 by a federal jury in Houston. Humberto Garcia Abrego is Juan's brother and a suspected drug boss himself. 3505 (providing that foreign records meeting its criteria shall not be excluded as evidence by the hearsay rule); Sturman, 951 F.2d at 1490 (Section 3505 establishes an exception to the hearsay rule for foreign business documents.). Both Juan Garca Abrego (born September 13, 1944) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. According to some members of his organization, in 1985, Garcia Abrego ordered the murder of Casimiro Cacho Espinoza, another drug trafficker in Mexico, in order to eliminate competition. See Rutledge v. United States, 517 U.S. 292, 116 S.Ct. The hypothetical question itself was obviously not the basis of Dr. Coleman's opinion. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Dr. Coleman's testimony that Garcia Abrego did not appear impaired and evinced none of the symptoms of a Valium overdose, together with the testimony of the officers who interviewed Garcia Abrego that he appeared in no way impaired, provided an adequate basis for the district court's conclusion that Garcia Abrego's mental capacity was not impaired as a result of the drugs that he had been administered earlier in the day. The court observed that the only situation in which due process even arguably warrants a judicial grant of immunity to a defense witness is a situation in which the government abuses its power to grant immunity to such a degree that it denies the defendant a fair trial. Acts committed in furtherance of the charged conspiracy are themselves part of the act charged. recent years.). "Fernando Balderas raped [the two maids] R. Evid. Count 13 was based upon Vega's receipt of $50,000 from Alex Ceballos, the brother of Jesse Ceballos, at Carpet Masters on May 3, 1991. He argues without further explanation that the certifications were improper because they were made in connection with another criminal case. He was arrested on a ranch outside of Monterrey on January 14, 1996. He grew up in Bustamante between 12th and 13th Streets in Matamoros, a block from where Garcia Abrego lived. at 640-41; see also United States v. Bustamante, 45 F.3d 933, 943 (5th Cir.1995) (It is also settled that, unless the government has abused its immunity power, a defendant has no due process right to have the trial court immunize defense witnesses.); United States v. Follin, 979 F.2d 369, 374 (5th Cir.1992) (District Courts have no inherent power to grant immunity. Juan Garca Abrego (born September 13, 1944) is a Mexican convicted drug lord and former leader of the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. [12] In an article published in the Mexican daily El Financiero it was alleged Garca Abrego had infiltrated 95% of the Attorney General's Office. All five were beaten--probably in their sleep--with both blunt and sharp instruments, medical examiner Enrique Ochoa Orantes told reporters, adding that the family was probably slain Tuesday night. Garcia Abrego's organization trafficked a huge amount of narcotics. See Edwards v. Arizona, 451 U.S. 477, 484-85, 101 S.Ct. three others in Brownsville to coordinate the transfer of a stolen 1977 1956(h), and one count of conducting a continuing criminal enterprise in violation of 21 U.S.C. 1978. 1978 auto theft charges were dismissed. Even then, his statement is admissible only if it bears adequate indicia of reliability. Roberts, 448 U.S. at 66, 100 S.Ct. Additionally, at trial, Francisco Perez testified that he purchased Valium for Garcia Abrego on a number of occasions and that Garcia Abrego used Valium on a daily basis from at least 1980 until 1993. Garcia Abrego contends that the district court violated the Double Jeopardy Clause because it based its order of criminal forfeiture on all of the counts for which the jury returned a guilty verdict even though the district court dismissed two of those counts-conspiracy to possess marijuana and cocaine with intent to distribute and conspiracy to import cocaine and marijuana-as lesser-included offenses of conducting a CCE. Unaware of the charges he faced in the U.S., He also argues that, even if only one of the acts comprising the offense occurred before 1956(h)'s effective date, the Ex Post Facto Clause precludes applying the statute's harsher penalty provisions to the offense. Garca Abregos best friend Count 16 was based upon Vega's payment of $7,965 for 8 trash compactors and 700 bags for use in packaging marijuana. Juan Garca brego, el capo que tema a los aviones y se adue del From this evidence, the jury could reasonably conclude that the drug offense described in count 4 was committed by Garcia Abrego's coconspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy. We disagree. Falcone was his name i believe. at 182 n. 3, 111 S.Ct. He argues that, because he was denied the opportunity to offer similar incentives to obtain testimony, the adversarial process was skewed to an exceptional degree in the government's favor and that his constitutional right to due process was thereby violated. For example, Garcia Abrego claims that William Hoffman could not have constituted his supervisee because Hoffman described himself as a freelance courier and stated that he worked for a number of different individuals. Donna Julia is a woman who is not his wife and is involved in an extramarital relationship with him. Garcia Abrego also protected his organization by attempting to maintain a low profile. Vega testified that, in January 1991, he met with Luis Medrano and discussed building a frozen food warehouse that would be used to distribute cocaine. Garcia Abrego himself told federal law enforcement officials during an interview that he began trafficking marijuana in 1979 and switched to cocaine in 1987. 515, 522, 93 L.Ed.2d 473 (1986). District courts are afforded substantial latitude in formulating jury charges. United States v. Asibor, 109 F.3d 1023, 1034 (5th Cir. [13], Garca Abrego's reach became known when a United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent named Claude de la O., in 1986, stated in testimony against Garca Abrego that he received over US$100,000 in bribes and had leaked information that could have endangered an FBI informant as well as Mexican journalists. We reject both of these contentions. in. Rep. No. We will stealing vehicles. We therefore conclude that sufficient evidence exists to support Garcia Abrego's convictions of the substantive drug counts. See United States v. Tucker, 137 F.3d 1016, 1036 (8th Cir.1998) (holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in denying the defendant's proposed instruction because it had the potential for misleading the jury and would have focussed the jury's attention on collateral issues). Garcia Abrego argues that the government failed to prove that he derived substantial income from the sale of narcotics and that he organized, led, managed, or supervised five or more individuals. During direct examination, counsel for Garcia Abrego questioned Dr. Coleman regarding his medical examination of Garcia Abrego upon his arrival in the United States and about the effects of a number of the medications that Mexican authorities had administered to him. Furthermore, Garcia Abrego does not contend that, during argument, the government urged the jury to find Garcia Abrego guilty of conducting a CCE on the basis of his association with individuals who, as a matter of law, could not have constituted his supervisees. Garca Abrego was apprehended on January 14, 1996, and Mexico shortly after received certification on March 1. In an effort to attack the admissibility of his confession from a slightly different angle, Garcia Abrego contends that he did not validly waive his Miranda rights prior to his statement to law enforcement agents at the FBI office. Garcia Abrego initially challenges the admissibility of the foreign bank records under 18 U.S.C. Carlos Rodriguez testified that Villareal was the cousin of Sergio Checo Gomez and that he was helping the organization smuggle drug proceeds into Mexico at the time of this seizure. Assuming, merely for the sake of argument, that a conspiracy conviction is a necessary predicate to a conviction of substantive offenses on the basis of a theory of coconspirator vicarious liability, such a conviction exists in this case because the jury also found Garcia Abrego guilty of conducting a CCE, and the district court entered a judgment of conviction on this count. This factual determination was not clearly erroneous. Durante 10 aos, fue rastreado por agentes de la Agencia Antidrogas de Estados Unidos (la DEA) y lleg a ser parte de la lista de los 10 criminales ms buscados por el FBI y ser el primer mexicano en estar en aquella lista negra. Balderas and their three children as they slept in their beds, Medrano agreed to pay the $3.5 million necessary to set up the warehouse. Abrego. [9] In 1994, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) believed Garca Abrego was making as much as US$10billion per year in profit. Se dice que el narco pact un acuerdo con la entonces Procuradura General de Justicia para negociar su arresto al asegurarle que no le quitaran sus bienes y su familia vivira sin ser molestada por las autoridades. Q:Would you not represent yourself here in the court as being an expert? Internet findings will confuse him with Oscar Malherbe de Leon, but this is incorrect.5. Disposition most commonly means a placing elsewhere, a giving over to the care or possession of another. Id. Alejandro PEREZ DE LA ROSA - Murderpedia Thanks, MX. Rivas testified that Gonzalez used the Arrowrock residence to store cocaine that Rivas delivered to him in Houston. Insofar as more direct efforts are concerned, DeLaO asked Garcia Abrego in a subsequent telephone conversation what had happened to the member of Martinez's group from whom he had acquired information. Without sufficient pretrial notice of a party's intention to offer foreign business records, it would certainly be unfair to conclude that the party opposing the admission of such records has waived his or her objections to the admissibility of the records by failing to assert them pretrial. Additionally, public records of a land transaction introduced at trial listed Garcia Abrego's wife as Maria del Carmen Olivella de Garcia. Additionally, Juan Ibarra was present when Vega picked up the money on May 3, 1991. We conclude, however, that the government adduced evidence sufficient to support each count of conviction. All rights reserved. The plain language of 3505 does not make compliance with the notice requirement a prerequisite to the admissibility of evidence under the statute. 7. Agent Claudio DeLaO testified that, during conversations with Luis Medrano, Medrano referred to Garcia Abrego as El Jefe and Patron, both Spanish words signifying substantial authority. were valuable objects in the house that were not taken, the source of violence in northern Mexico and South Texas. El Capo del Golfo (1996 edition) | Open Library Fue jefe del Crtel del Golfo . ] Most rights must be asserted when the government seeks to take the action they protect against. This evidence, combined with Tony Ortiz's testimony regarding his involvement in the overall conspiracy constitutes ample evidence from which the jury could reasonably conclude that the drug offense charged in count 17 was committed by Garcia Abrego's coconspirators in furtherance of the conspiracy. However, in the absence of any intervening Supreme Court or en banc circuit authority that conflicts with Cervantes-Pacheco-and Garcia Abrego has pointed to none-we are bound by our decision in that case. To be convicted of engaging in a criminal conspiracy, an individual need not know all the details of the unlawful enterprise or know the exact number or identity of all the co-conspirators, so long as he knowingly participates in some fashion in the larger objectives of the conspiracy. United States v. Westbrook, 119 F.3d 1176, 1189 (5th Cir.1997), cert. On April 9, 1993, Paulicastro delivered the cocaine in a rental truck to Francisco Segura. R.Crim. appears to involve drugs and high level Mexican officials. Additionally, a number of witnesses testified that Garcia Abrego's group employed a number of pilots, hit men, and body guards. A:In medical school we did study the effect of Valium and other benzodiazepines. While detained at the airport, Garcia Abrego received two ten-milligram injections of Valium. The cocaine was discovered in a secret compartment in an 18-wheeler driven by Raciel Garcia Contreras and also occupied by Juan David Garcia. Jury Instruction on the Nonreciprocal Nature of Inducements to Government Witnesses. Crazy. El Chapo: A look at ADX Florence Colorado Supermax Prison. As indicated infra, Garcia Abrego challenges only the sufficiency of the evidence to establish that the funds at issue in each count alleging a violation of 1956(a)(1)(A)(i) were involved in a transaction. As police searched Tuesday for one of the family Before dawn on February 6, 2021, two months before the arrest of "El Vaquero", Enrique Homero "Kike" Crdenas Salinas, was killed in front of his wife and kids as they arrived at their home in Matamoros. The House Report on the bill that ultimately became 3505 states that [t]he purpose of the legislation is to make foreign-kept business records more readily admissible into evidence in criminal trials in United States courts. H.R. denied sub nom., 520 U.S. 1219, 117 S.Ct. Guaid on Tuesday spoke to The Associated Press by phone from Miami, where he arrived on a commercial flight that departed Colombia's capital Monday night. Garcia Abrego contends that all of the acts that formed the basis of his conviction for conspiracy to launder money occurred before October 28, 1992, the effective date of 18 U.S.C. Garcia Abrego has thus failed to demonstrate that any error on the part of the district court in connection with its jury instructions on the CCE offense prejudiced him and thereby affected his substantial rights. maids into "sexual hostages.". for reasons authorities still cannot explain, he was never arrested. Dr. Coleman testified that he graduated from medical school and subsequently received six years of training in internal medicine. However, the Third Circuit has held that a conviction for violation of 1956(h) requires that the government prove the following three elements: (1)the conspiracy, agreement, or understanding to commit money laundering was formed, reached, or entered into by two or more persons; (2) at some time during the existence or life of the conspiracy, agreement, or understanding, one of its alleged members knowingly performed one of the overt acts charged in the indictment in order to further or advance the purpose of the agreement; and (3) at some time during the existence or life of the conspiracy, agreement, or understanding, the defendant knew the purpose of the agreement, and then deliberately joined the conspiracy, agreement or understanding. Juan Garca Abrego (CDG Founder) and Alfredo Beltrn Leyva in US Federal Prison . known of his early life when he was a car thief trying to make a name for himself Moreover, the district court was free to accord great weight to the testimony of those individuals who actually observed Garcia Abrego prior to his interview with law enforcement authorities. [4], Garca Abrego is widely known for innovating Mexican trafficking operations, turning them from smugglers into suppliers. SUSCRBETE Y ACTIVA LA CAMPANA Exploramos una quinta abandonada en el municipio de Jurez, Nuevo Len.Ren Obregnhttps://www.facebook.com/comunidadaztec. Notorious Narcos - AskMen 1002, 136 L.Ed.2d 881 (1997), and cert. Humberto Garcia Abrego is Juan's brother and a suspected drug boss himself. Among those on the list who stand out is However, when tortilla factory worker, El Cacho quickly became a millionaire and led a Conspiracy is a continuing offense. Rule 404(b) provides as follows:Other crimes, wrongs, or acts. As a result of the killing, a riot broke out in the jail, killing two members of Garcia Abrego's organization. Though usually quiet and Rivas also testified that, during a telephone conversation, Nieto told him that he had lost a load of cocaine at the Almeda-Genoa warehouse. 48), Alberto Sicilia Falcn "rotted" (died) in prison in Mexico after he was re-arrested in 1976. servants avenging sexual abuse, prosecutors say. The novelty of the statute is to admit the records without confrontation by the defendant with the recordkeepers. and 44,833 lb (20,336 kg) of stainless steel coils and skids were stolen from Juan Garca Abrego (CDG Founder) and Alfredo Beltrn Leyva - Reddit See United States v. Rogers, 126 F.3d 655, 659 (5th Cir.1997). 3578, 3580. L.Constitutionality of the Criminal Forfeiture. Su familia se dedicaba a la agricultura y en ocasiones viajaban a Estados Unidos. Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436, 86 S.Ct. The acts of violence to which the evidence at issue here related were integral parts of the conspiracies and the CCE with which Garcia Abrego was charged. We have also noted that a witness who receives financial compensation in exchange for testimony has less of an incentive to testify falsely than a witness who testifies in exchange for a reduced sentence. Section 846 has language virtually identical to the language of 1956(h).9 Neither the Supreme Court nor this court has had occasion to determine whether 18 U.S.C. Therefore, we have consistently held that the jury may infer the existence of a conspiracy from the presence, association, and concerted action of the defendant with others. United States v. Gonzales, 121 F.3d 928, 935 (5th Cir.1997), cert. An FBI agent testified that, prior to this seizure, law enforcement officials intercepted a telephone conversation between Tomas Gringo Sanchez and Hilario Gonzales. @MX me refera al apellido Crdenas y como hasta el da de hoy los toman en cuenta en Matamoros a pesar de que OCG solt toda la sopa y eso afecto a la compaa. Specifically, these safeguards include the following: The government must not use or encourage the use of perjured testimony; the government must completely and timely disclose the fee arrangement to the accused in accordance with Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83, 83 S.Ct. His FBI Rhodes v. Guiberson Oil Tools, 75 F.3d 989, 998 n. 2 (5th Cir.1996) (en banc) (Emilio M. Garza, J., concurring) ([T]he standard of relevancy under Rule 401 is intentionally much easier to satisfy than the standard for sufficiency of the evidence). He had also concluded that Sanchez had gotten out of hand and lost a great deal of money for his organization. With no hope for justice, the two family chauffeurs Miranda merely created a prophylactic rule that establishes an irrebuttable presumption of involuntariness with respect to statements made during custodial interrogation that are not preceded by Miranda warnings. The results of the investigation shot holes in the Accordingly, [a]s in the case of the witness who has been promised a reduced sentence, it is up to the jury to evaluate the credibility of the compensated witness. See id. Because the amount that the district court ordered Garcia Abrego to forfeit is within the limits set by Congress, the criminal forfeiture comports with the Double Jeopardy Clause. charging him with corruption and confining him to jail in It is definitely a positive thing for an inmate. In his brief, Garcia Abrego incorrectly refers to Dr. Coleman as Dr. Lykissa, one of his own experts. Francisco Segura testified that he originally worked for Tony Ortiz and was later ordered by Medrano and Malherbe to collect drug debts in New York.