Mexican cartel leader’s son is sentenced to life in prison for role in major drug trafficking plot

The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse in Washington, Oct. 11, 2019. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

WASHINGTON — The son of a Mexican drug cartel boss has been sentenced to life in prison for helping his father run one of the country’s largest and most violent narcotics trafficking organizations.

Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera. The son served as the CJNG cartel’s second-in-command for seven years before his extradition to the U.S. in February 2020.

The younger Oseguera faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced him in Washington, D.C. One of the 35-year-old Oseguera’s defense attorneys asked for a 40-year prison sentence, noting his client was only 14 when he was recruited to join his family’s drug trafficking operation.

“You weren’t a child when you were committing all these crimes, and you won’t be sentenced as a child here,” the judge told Oseguera.

Oseguera ordered the killings of at least 100 people, personally killed at least six people and ordered subordinates to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter, killing at least nine people, in May 2015, according to prosecutors.

“This defendant helped build Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion into a brutal terrorist organization that pumps poison onto our streets and commits horrific acts of violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.

Howell also ordered Oseguera to forfeit over $6 billion in proceeds from the cartel’s drug trafficking.

Oseguera declined to address the court before the judge imposed his sentence. He briefly conferred with his attorney before he was led out of the courtroom.

Howell said Oseguera deserved to be called a “drug kingpin.”

“Your criminal actions are among the most serious that our drug laws are designed to address,” Howell told him.

In September, a federal jury convicted Oseguera of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for U.S. importation and using a firearm in a drug conspiracy.

Justice Department prosecutor Jonathan Hornok called Oseguera a “mass murderer” as he recommended sentencing him to two life sentences — one for each count of conviction.

In 2015, he killed five bound men who owed him money by slashing their throats with a knife, then asked for a clean shirt, according to prosecutors. Days later, they said, Oseguera shot and killed one of his drivers when the man did not repark a vehicle quickly enough.

The helicopter that Oseguera ordered to be shot down was pursuing him and his father, who remains at large. A reward of up to $15 million has been offered for information leading to the father’s arrest or conviction.

Jurors heard testimony that the younger Oseguera was personally responsible for trafficking cocaine and producing methamphetamine in total amounts worth over $12 billion.

“Simply put, this is a historically severe drug offense,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

Oseguera initially signed a plea agreement with the government but ultimately elected to go to trial instead.

Defense attorney Anthony Colombo said Oseguera grew up in “an unstable environment wrought with violence and corruption.”

“Mr. Oseguera is as much as anyone both a product and a victim of that environment,” Colombo wrote.

Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press