Son of Mexican cartel leader convicted for violent role in drug trafficking | State News

WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Mexican drug cartel leader was convicted Friday on charges he used violence, including fatally shooting down a military helicopter, to help his father run one of the nation’s largest and most dangerous drug trafficking organizations.

Rubén Oseguera, better known as “El Menchito,” is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera and served as the second in command of the “CJNG” cartel before being extradited to the US in February 2020.

A federal jury in Washington, DC, deliberated for several hours over two days before finding the young Oseguera guilty on both charges: conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for importation into the United States and use of a firearm in a drug conspiracy.

The younger Oseguera, who was born in California and holds dual U.S. and Mexican citizenship, is expected to be sentenced on Jan. 10 by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell.

He did not react clearly to the jury’s verdict. One of his lawyers patted him on the shoulder before he was led out of the courtroom.

The U.S. government has offered a $10 million reward for information leading to the arrest of the elder Oseguera, whose alias, “El Mencho,” is a play on his first name.

Prosecutors showed jurors a gun with Oseguera’s nicknames, “Menchito” and “JR,” along with the cartel’s acronym. The weapon was in his possession when he was arrested.

“JR” was also engraved on a belt found at the scene of a Mexican military helicopter crash after cartel members shot down the plane with a rocket-propelled grenade in 2015. Prosecutors said the younger Oseguera, now 34, ordered subordinates to shoot down the helicopter in Jalisco, Mexico, so he and his father could avoid capture.

Oseguera ordered the killings of at least 100 people and frequently bragged about killing and kidnapping, prosecutors said. They said he personally shot dead at least two people, including a rival drug trafficker and a disobedient underling.

During oral arguments at the trial on Thursday, prosecutor Kaitlin Sahni described Oseguera as “a prince, an heir to an empire.”

“But this was no fairy tale,” she said. “This was the story of the defendant’s drugs, guns and murder, told by the people who saw it with their own eyes.”

The jury heard testimony from six witnesses who linked Oseguera to drug trafficking.

Defense attorney Anthony Colombo attempted to attack the credibility and motives of the witnesses, calling them “sociopaths” who told self-serving lies about his client.

“They are all pathological liars,” he said.

Jurors also saw encrypted BlackBerry messages that Oseguera exchanged with other cartel leaders and underlings. One exchange showed that Oseguera was offended when his uncle ridiculed the purity of his cocaine, Sahni said.

“The suspect was proud of the cocaine he distributed,” she added.

Columbo argued that prosecutors had failed to provide sufficient evidence that the CJNG cartel was smuggling drugs into the U.S.

“Ten years and not a single attack,” he said. “There is no evidence that it would come to the US.”

But prosecutors said Oseguera used increasingly extreme violent acts to maintain his family’s control over a global drug trafficking operation, including in the United States.

“The defendant decided who he worked with and who worked for him,” another prosecutor, Kate Naseef, told the jury.

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