Mexican cartel boss

[ad_1] He was one of many FBI's 10 most needed fugitives — now federal prosecutors have filed their fifth superseding indictment in opposition to Mexican cartel chief Jose Rodolfo Villareal-Hernandez , often known as "El Gato."

Authorities say Villareal-Hernandez is linked to a the 2013 homicide of a person shot and killed at a Southlake procuring heart , and is now dealing with a murder-for-hire cost. If convicted, he could possibly be eligible for the demise penalty.

The violent crime at Southlake's common Townsquare shook the group over a decade in the past. Now, 12 years later, Villareal-Hernandez, who's accused of orchestrating that homicide, is charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, interstate stalking, and now, persevering with a prison enterprise.

A "plot of revenge" behind the 2013 homicide Paul Coggins, former U.S. lawyer for the Northern District of Texas, mentioned Villareal-Hernandez ordered the 2013 homicide to eradicate one of many males chargeable for his father's demise.

"A rival drug cartel that was chargeable for the demise of the defendant's father," Paul Coggins mentioned. "So, there was a long-held plot of revenge on the coronary heart of this indictment, on the coronary heart of this story."

Authorities mentioned that in Might 2013, Villareal-Hernandez, who was a part of the Beltran Leyva Group cartel , ordered the hit on Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa in Southlake. Guerrero Chapa was allegedly a lawyer for a rival cartel.

Authorities mentioned Guerrero Chapa was gunned down whereas sitting in his automobile. He had been within the space procuring together with his spouse.

Villareal-Hernandez arrested in 2023 after years on the run Whereas others have been convicted, Villareal-Hernandez remained on the run for years. He was lastly arrested in Mexico in 2023 and extradited to the U.S. this previous February.

"It simply reveals the lengths that the federal authorities will go to, the federal authorities, the state authorities, will go to in a case like this, in a homicide case, in a homicide for rent case," Coggins mentioned.

Coggins added that if a jury finds Villareal-Hernandez responsible on the murder-for-hire cost, he's eligible for the demise penalty.

"Then they transfer to a particular sentencing listening to the place the jury considers you already know, all these elements that minimize in opposition to demise penalty and in favor of demise penalty, and the essential issue, the underlying issue, is did the defendant intend to kill somebody, and was it premeditated?" mentioned Coggins.