Conviction of 2 men for smuggling for "Chapo" Guzman

EL PASO -- Jurors convicted two men Wednesday in a conspiracy to smuggle more than 100 tons of marijuana into the United States for the Sinaloa drug cartel.
One defendant, Fernando Ontiveros-Arambula, 40, had been an informant for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. He told agents he was a high-level trafficker for the cartel led by Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman Loera.
The 12-member jury in U.S. District Court convicted Ontiveros-Arambula of one count of conspiracy to possess 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, one count of possession with intent to distribute 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, and one count of conspiracy to import 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana.
Jurors found the second defendant, Manuel Chavez-Betancourt, 19, guilty of one count of conspiracy to possess 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana with intent to distribute. They acquitted him of the other two charges.
U.S. District Court Judge David Briones said Chavez-Betancourt will be sentenced on June 10 and Ontiveros-Arambula on June 11.
Jurors deliberated for eight hours before returning their verdict in the trial, which lasted more than two weeks.
Russell Leachman, the lead prosecutor, had asked the jury to send a message to the drug cartels by convicting both men. Prosecutors called the trial a crash course on how cartels operate.
The case began when a Border Enforcement Security Task (BEST) force conducting surveillance spotted Chavez-Betancourt and Jesus Gonzalez-Hernandez on Sept. 26, 2008, at store parking lots at Alameda and Carolina.
BEST officers arrested both men that day in the seizure of 217.45 pounds of marijuana from two vehicles and a toolshed at Gonzalez-Hernandez's home in the Lower Valley. Officers also retrieved two handguns from Gonzalez-Hernandez's house and car. He admitted the weapons belonged to him, prosecutors said.
Investigators seized the marijuana. They said they eventually traced it and two other marijuana loads to Ontiveros-Arambula's drug-trafficking organization.
When he was arrested, Chavez-Betancourt, then 18, told officers that Gonzalez-Hernandez was his uncle.
Gonzalez-Hernandez, an immigrant who lived in the United States illegally, struck a plea agreement with prosecutors and testified against Chavez-Betancourt.
Prosecution witnesses said the Ontiveros-Arambula organization had the capacity to smuggle more than 100 tons of marijuana over the course of a year, a figure the defense said was exaggerated.
ICE agents testified that Ontiveros-Arambula became an informant for the agency in 2008. He also told them he used to work for the rival Carrillo Fuentes cartel, until members of that gang tried to kill him.
ICE helped provide a U.S. visa for Ontiveros-Arambula, but officials said he continued to direct a drug-trafficking operation and only wanted to use ICE to bring down the competition.
Since 2008, the two cartels have waged a battle for control of the Chihuahua state smuggling corridor -- a battle that has killed more than 5,000 people.
Jesus Fierro-Mendez, a drug trafficker and former Mexican police captain, testified that Ontiveros-Arambula was a rising cartel member and had Guzman's permission to provide information to U.S. agents about the competing cartel led by Vicente Carrillo Fuentes.
"Witnesses also testified that (Ontiveros-Arambula) and other high-ranking members of the Sinaloa cartel were using any means at their disposal, including bribery, extortion and violence, to gain the upper hand in the war between the two cartels," said U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy.
Agents testified that other investigations stemming from the case continue. Elizabeth "Guera" Lares-Valenzuela, an indicted co-conspirator, is a fugitive.
After the trial, Murphy's staff characterized Chavez-Betancourt as low-level operative who delivered vehicles with marijuana to stash house operators.
U.S. authorities in El Paso and other jurisdictions have indictments pending against Guzman and Carrillo Fuentes, but Guzman has attracted special scrutiny since Forbes magazine named him one of the richest and most influential men in the world.
Officials may have new concerns as well. According to a federal indictment filed in Chicago, Guzman and two other Mexican drug lords "sought to obtain weapons in the United States, and discussed using violence against American and or Mexican government buildings in retaliation for each country's enforcement of its narcotics laws."