A Barrio Azteca (BA) gang lieutenant pleaded guilty today
for his participation in a racketeering and drug trafficking conspiracy.
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice
Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Richard L. Durbin Jr. of the
Western District of Texas; Special Agent in Charge Douglas Lindquist of the
FBI’s El Paso, Texas, Office; and Special Agent in Charge Will Glaspy of the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) El Paso Division made the
announcement.
Ricardo Valles De La Rosa (Valles), aka Chino, 52, of El
Paso, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone of the
Western District of Texas to racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute
and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances; conspiracy to
import heroin, cocaine and marijuana; and conspiracy to commit money
laundering. As part of his plea, Valles agreed that he conspired to commit
murder in a foreign country. Sentencing has been scheduled for March 23, 2017.
Valles is one of 35 members and associates of the BA gang charged in a third
superseding indictment unsealed in March 2011, with various counts of
racketeering, murder, drug offenses, money laundering and obstruction of
justice.
According to plea agreements and other court documents and
information presented in court throughout this case, the BA gang began
operating in the late 1980s as a violent prison gang and has expanded into a
transnational criminal organization based in West Texas; Juarez, Mexico; and
throughout state and federal prisons in the United States and Mexico. The gang
has a militaristic command structure and includes captains, lieutenants,
sergeants, soldiers and associates – all with the purpose of maintaining power
and enriching its members and associates through drug trafficking, money
laundering, extortion, intimidation, violence, threats of violence and murder.
The BA profits by importing heroin, cocaine and marijuana into the United
States from Mexico. Gang members and associates also charge a “street tax” or
“cuota” to businesses and criminals operating in their turf, which profits are
used to funnel money into prison commissary accounts and to pay for defense
lawyers or fines to support imprisoned BA members. The “cuota” profits are also
reinvested into the organization to purchase drugs, guns and ammunition.
According to plea agreements by other defendants in this
investigation, members and associates of the BA have engaged in a host of
criminal activity committed since Jan. 1, 2003, ranging from drug trafficking,
extortion and money laundering to kidnapping and homicides, including the March
13, 2010, murders in Juarez of a U.S. consulate employee and her husband, as
well as the husband of another U.S. consulate employee. The BA killed these
individuals because they were mistakenly believed to be rivals associated with
the Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Drug Trafficking Organization.
According to admissions made in connection with his plea
agreement, beginning in or around 1995, Valles became an associate of the BA
while imprisoned at a Bureau of Prisons (BOP) facility, where he rose to the
rank of sergeant. Following his release from the BOP facility and deportation
to Juarez, in July 2007, Valles was promoted to lieutenant and placed in charge
of prostitution and illegal after-hours alcohol sales in downtown Juarez, and
also collected “cuota.” Additionally, Valles obtained law enforcement-related
information from unauthorized sources on behalf of the BA, and would use that
contact to obtain information regarding the arrests of BA members, the
activities and locations of rival gang members and the results of hits carried
out by the BA. Further, Valles maintained rosters of BA members in Juarez and
was in charge of conducting daily roll-calls, as well as maintaining
communications between the BA in Juarez and BA members who were in and out of
prison in the United States.
In addition, Valles admitted that on March 13, 2010, upon
instructions from a high-ranking BA member, Valles obtained the location of a
specific vehicle and sent BA members to that location. Valles admitted that he
was aware that he was assisting the other BA members to locate and commit
crimes against the occupants of the vehicle, including murder. BA members
subsequently located the vehicle and killed the driver, who was the husband of
a U.S. Consulate employee.
Of the 35 defendants charged in this case, 33 have been
apprehended, 25 of whom have pleaded guilty and one was found guilty at trial.
Valles, Luis Hernandez Celis, aka Pac, and Alberto Nunez Payan, aka Fresa, were
extradited from Mexico in October 2015.
Of the 35 defendants charged in this case, 33 have been
apprehended, 25 of whom have pleaded guilty and one was found guilty at trial.
Valles, Luis Hernandez Celis, aka Pac, and Alberto Nunez Payan, aka Fresa, were
extradited from Mexico in October 2015.
FBI’s El Paso Field Office, Albuquerque Field Office (Las
Cruces Resident Agency); DEA Juarez; and DEA El Paso investigated the case. The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement; U.S. Marshals Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
BOP; U.S. Diplomatic Security Service; Texas Department of Public Safety; Texas
Department of Criminal Justice; El Paso Police Department; El Paso County
Sheriff’s Office; El Paso Independent School District Police Department; Texas
Alcohol and Beverage Commission; New Mexico State Police; Dona Ana County, New
Mexico, Sheriff’s Office; Las Cruces, New Mexico, Police Department; Southern
New Mexico Correctional Facility; and Otero County Prison Facility New Mexico
provided substantial assistance in the investigation.
Trial Attorneys Joseph A. Cooley and John C. Hanley of the
Criminal Division’s Organized Crime and Gang Section, Trial Attorney Jay A.
Bauer of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section
and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gibson of the Western District of Texas-El
Paso Division are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of
International Affairs and Office of Enforcement Operations provided valuable
assistance in this matter.
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