Son of Mexican cartel boss convicted of violent involvement in drug trafficking plot

WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Mexican drug cartel leader was found guilty Friday of using violence, including fatally shooting down a military helicopter, to help his father run one of the country's largest and most dangerous drug trafficking organizations.

Rubén Oseguera, known as “El Menchito”, is the son of the fugitive boss of the Jalisco New Generation cartel Nemesio Oseguera and served as deputy of the “CJNG” cartel before his Extradition to the USA in February 2020.

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

“El Menchito now joins the long list of high-level cartel leaders the Department of Justice has convicted in an American court,” Attorney General Merrick Garland said in an emailed statement. “We are grateful to our Mexican law enforcement partners for their extensive cooperation and sacrifice in bringing the leaders of the Jalisco Cartel to justice.”

The younger Oseguera, who was born in California and has dual U.S.-Mexican citizenship, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell on Jan. 10. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years.

Oseguera did not appear to react 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 reward of up to $10 million for information leading to the arrest of the elder Oseguera, whose code name “El Mencho” is a play on his first name.

Prosecutors showed the jury a rifle bearing Oseguera's nicknames “Menchito” and “JR” and the cartel's acronym. The weapon was in his possession when he was arrested.

“JR” was also engraved on a belt found at the site where a Mexican military helicopter crashed in 2015 after cartel members shot down the aircraft with an anti-tank grenade launcher. Prosecutors said the younger Oseguera, now 34, ordered subordinates to shoot down the helicopter in Jalisco, Mexico, so he and his father could not be captured. At least nine people aboard the helicopter were killed in the attack, according to prosecutors.

Oseguera ordered the killings of at least 100 people and frequently boasted about murders and kidnappings, prosecutors said. They said he personally shot at least two people, including a rival drug trafficker and a disobedient subordinate.

During closing arguments in the trial on Thursday, Justice Department 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 firsthand.”

The jury heard testimony from six cooperating 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 Oseguera exchanged with other cartel leaders and underlings. One exchange showed Oseguera was insulted when his uncle mocked the purity of his cocaine, Sahni said.

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

Columbo argued that prosecutors did not present enough evidence that the CJNG cartel was smuggling drugs in the United States.

“Ten years and not a single seizure,” he said. “There is no evidence it came to the United States.”

But prosecutors said Oseguera had increasingly resorted to extreme acts of violence to maintain his family's power over a global drug trade, including in the United States.

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