The number of people pleading guilty to drug distribution charges stemming from a Gulf Cartel-ordered kidnapping for the loss of approximately 220 pounds of cocaine continues to grow, with four more suspects admitting guilt this week.
On Tuesday, Marlon Cervelo-Trujillo, Ulises Moreno, Yermis Martinez-Pujol and Jerman Loera all pleaded guilty to a count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
They are just four of 19 people accused in the indictment.
A total of 10 defendants, including Tuesday’s suspects, have pleaded guilty, and one other has filed a notice that they intend to do the same.
The charges were brought after the October 2019 kidnapping of two men identified as D.G. and J.L. in court documents.
The alleged loss of the cocaine occurred on Oct. 2, 2019, after the Texas Department of Public Safety conducted a traffic stop on a tractor-trailer operated by D.G., according to a complaint.
“As a result of the stop, 30 bundles suspected to contain cocaine were seized from the tractor-trailer D.G. was driving. Pending further investigation, D.G. was released by the DPS Trooper,” the document stated.
A little more than two weeks later, both J.L. and D.G. were reported missing.
In one of the missing person reports, an individual said J.L. had been with a co-worker and could not be reached and hadn’t answered his phone, which was traced to a residence in rural Edinburg, according to the complaint.
About 10 days after they were reported missing, J.L. called from Mexico to say he and D.G. had been kidnapped and their captors were demanding $800,000 for J.L.’s release.
As the month of October drew to a close that year, the FBI arrived at the Hidalgo County Sheriff’s Office to interview a man named Gerardo Ruiz, who said he and a man named Oscar Serafin Ibarra had received instructions from a person in Mexico who belonged to the Gulf Cartel to meet J.L. and D.G. at the ranch in rural Edinburg.
Ruiz, Ibarra and a man named Juan Manuel Moreno-Martinez are all charged with kidnapping. Moreno faces additional charges of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and money laundering. They are the only suspects charged in the indictment who are facing kidnapping charges.
Court documents also indicate that both J.L. and D.G.’s families were threatened with death by an unidentified individual if they did not comply and show up to the ranch.
When J.L. and D.G. complied and arrived at the ranch, they were bound with zip-ties. Federal prosecutors allege that Ibarra and Ruiz brandished firearms, and one of the men cycled the action of a firearm, ejecting live rounds onto the floor.
That’s where J.L. and D.G. learned they would be taken to Mexico, which happened on Oct. 15, 2019, when the alleged kidnappers crossed them through the Donna port of entry, according to court documents.
Ruiz told investigators that he believed D.G. and J.L. were taken to Mexico to answer for a drug debt.
While in Mexico, the men were handed over to unidentified people who told them they had been brought to Mexico because of the missing 100 kilograms of cocaine, the complaint indicated. The unidentified people also demanded a ransom, handcuffed the men and beat them with boards during their captivity.
“J.L. and D.G. made multiple ransom calls to family members at the direction of their captors for the amounts of $800,000 and $300,000, respectively,” the complaint said. After about two weeks of captivity, J.L. and D.G. were released and were able to cross back into the United States.
Thus far, just two defendants have been sentenced.
Juan Carlos Rodriguez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and received a little more than 11 years in prison, while Oilevy Blanco-Prieto pleaded guilty last week and received a decade in prison.
The remaining defendants who admitted guilt have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance. They include Alejandro Enrique George-Boza, Jose Joel Quevedo-Bouzamayor, Laureano Javier Roldan-Quevado and Yoany Ochoa-Labacena. Jesus M. Mesa has filed a notice that he intends to plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
Moreno, Serafin and Ruiz, the alleged kidnappers, have all pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for jury trials.
The remaining defendants who have not pleaded guilty include Geovanny Oreste Garcia-Quevado, who was charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and money laundering, as well as David Gonzalez, Armando Izquierdo, Lazaro Cruz and Jorge Mendez-Chavez, who are all charged with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
