News Mexican lawyer slain in Southlake was head of Gulf cartel, defense says

[brassmonkey]

Attorneys for a man accused of stalking a Mexican lawyer who was slain at a Southlake shopping center said in court papers that the victim was the ?de facto head? of one of Mexico?s largest and deadliest drug cartels.

Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda?s attorneys said Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa ran the Gulf cartel at the time of his death in May 2013, according to a court document filed Sunday.

Ledezma-Cepeda and his son Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano Jr., both Mexican citizens, are charged in federal court with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder for hire for allegedly following Guerrero Chapa for months leading up to his slaying.

Ledezma-Cepeda?s cousin Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, 59, a legal U.S. resident, also is charged in the case.

Their trial is scheduled to begin April 25 in Fort Worth.

Three others are charged in sealed indictments because they remain fugitives. It?s unclear what role they played in the slaying.

The killers have not been publicly identified or charged.

Guerrero Chapa, 43, was killed shortly before 7 p.m. on May 22, 2013, at Southlake Town Square. A white Toyota Sequoia pulled up behind his Range Rover, and a masked gunman stepped out. The gunman walked to the passenger side where Guerrero Chapa was sitting and shot him multiple times with a 9 mm pistol. His wife, who was loading shopping bags into the vehicle, was not hurt.

The plot to kill Guerrero Chapa began as early as March 2011, shortly before he closed on a $1.2 million house in Southlake, according to court filings.

Guerrero Chapa, personal lawyer to Gulf cartel boss Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, was an informant for U.S. law enforcement. Cárdenas is serving a 25-year sentence in a U.S. prison.

But Wes Ball and J. Warren St. John, defense attorneys for Ledezma-Cepeda, said Guerrero Chapa took control of the cartel after Cárdenas? arrest in 2003 in Mexico. Cárdenas was extradited to the U.S. for prosecution in 2007.

?As head of the CDG [Gulf cartel], the deceased Chapa ran a large criminal enterprise whose activities included murders, narcotics trafficking, kidnapping, extortion, bribery, money laundering and torture,? the filing said.

The defense also questioned prosecutors? contention in court records filed last week that Guerrero Chapa had feared for his life after being tipped off that he was being hunted by killers.

Guerrero Chapa received phone calls from ?others? warning him that he was being stalked and that he ?needed to be on his guard,? Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua T. Burgess said in court documents.

?Contrary to this expressed fear is the fact that Chapa continued his association with criminal enterprises which included his use of cocaine,? the defense lawyers wrote.

Guerrero Chapa?s autopsy revealed that he had cocaine in his system.

The U.S. attorney?s office declined to comment.

Mexican lawyer slain in Southlake was head of Gulf cartel, defense says | | Dallas Morning News

[nico-t]

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[#23]

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