WASHINGTON (AP) — The son of a Mexican drug cartel boss has been sentenced to life in prison for his own leadership role in one of the country’s largest and most violent narcotics trafficking organizations.
Rubén Oseguera, known as El Menchito, is the son of fugitive Jalisco New Generation cartel boss Nemesio Oseguera. The son served as the CJNG cartel’s second-in-command before his extradition to the U.S. in February 2020.
The younger Oseguera faced a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum of 40 years in prison when U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell sentenced him in Washington, D.C. One of the 35-year-old Oseguera’s defense attorneys asked for a 40-year prison sentence, noting his client was only 14 when he was recruited to join his family’s drug trafficking operation.
Howell also ordered a forfeiture of over $6 billion as part of the sentence.
In September, a federal jury convicted Oseguera of conspiring to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for U.S. importation and using a firearm in a drug conspiracy.
Oseguera ordered the killings of at least 100 people, personally shot and killed at least two people and ordered subordinates to shoot down a Mexican military helicopter, killing at least nine people in 2015, prosecutors said.
Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press
