A senior Mexican cartel operative partied hard after receiving confirmation a hit he ordered was successfully carried out.
Beltran Leyva cartel member Rodolfo “El Gato” Villarreal Hernandez had U.S. lawyer Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa killed for having murdered his father several years ago. El Gato spent around $1 million of his own money to ensure his father’s murderer was killed.
Guerrero’s murder was years in the making when, around 2000, “A low-level police officer known as a madrina,” tried to blackmail the lawyer with information about his client. Guerrero was working for the head of the Gulf Cartel, Osiel Cardenas.
Cardenas was hiding out in a ranch and the madrina threatened to go after him unless he was paid off. As his lawyer, Guerrero told Cardenas about the blackmail attempt and the cartel boss had the cop killed. The murdered cop was the father of cartel member El Gato.
El Gato received permission to go after Guerrero when the Beltran Leyva Cartel found out Osiel Cardenas – former head of the Gulf Cartel – made a deal with the U.S. Department of Justice. Cardenas agreed to hand over millions in cash as well as information while locked up.
Since Cardenas betrayed the cartels based on his lawyer’s – Guerrero – advice, the Gulf Cartel agreed Beltran Leyva Cartel could order a hit on Guerrero. El Gato, who also deals with Los Zetas, was thrilled when he received authorization to go after his dad’s killer.
When the deed was done, El Gato “threw a big party in Mexico with as much beer as he could get his hands on,” according to defendant Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano Jr. Ledezma-Campano is on trial for stalking Guerrero. He’s cooperating with the prosecution and testified on their behalf.
The cartel lawyer was gunned down in May, 2013, outside a Banana Republic in Southlake, Texas. Southlake is a wealthy suburb of Fort Worth. Guerrero was sitting in his Range Rover when a hitman came up to the side of the car and shot him. The attorney’s wife was with him when he was murdered.
Federal prosecutors are trying three men for stalking the cartel counselor who was known to have a cocaine problem. Guerrero was a Justice Department informant and was living in a $1.2 million home. Attorneys for the defendants claim Guerrero led the Gulf Cartel after Cardenas was locked up.
Guerrero’s murderers – who go by the street names “Clorox” and “Captain” – are still at large. The three men on trial tracked down the slain counselor after looking for him for over two years. A GPS tracker was placed on Guerrero’s Range Rover which let the hitmen to him.
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