El Mencho's brother sentenced to more than 22 years in U.S. prison

Prosecutors sought 30 years; defense requested 20 at sentencing

WASHINGTON — Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of the late Jalisco New Generation co-founder known as El Mencho, was sentenced Friday to more than 22 years in U.S. prison for his part in a sprawling drug trafficking conspiracy that brought cocaine and methamphetamine to American streets. The sentencing came as the Trump administration pursues Justice Department cases against powerful Mexican cartels, including Jalisco New Generation, also known as CJNG.

Oseguera Cervantes pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in July after the Mexican government handed him over to U.S. authorities last year alongside other high-ranking cartel leaders, according to federal prosecutors. He is 68 years old and from Michoacán, Mexico.

Federal prosecutors said Oseguera Cervantes worked for cartels with his brother Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known as El Mencho, who was killed by the Mexican army in February. Antonio Oseguera Cervantes was a leader of the Milenio Cartel and later reported directly to his brother after El Mencho became the CJNG’s top leader, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors in Washington’s federal court had recommended a 30-year prison sentence, noting that his duties included receiving CJNG drug proceeds, managing the cartel’s money laundering activities and supervising meth laboratories.

“Rival cartels rarely settle disputes through diplomacy alone,” prosecutors wrote in court papers. “And while there may be no nonviolent drug cartels in Mexico, (Oseguera Cervantes) was a member of particularly brutal cartels.”

Tysen Duva, who leads the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, said in an emailed statement that the sentence “sends a clear message to criminals around the world that the Department of Justice is committed to the total elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations, including the CJNG.”

Oseguera Cervantes’ attorneys requested a 20-year prison sentence, saying in court documents that he accepts full responsibility for his crimes and “blames no one except himself.” His attorneys noted that he already has spent several years behind bars in Mexico for essentially the same conduct to which he pleaded guilty in the U.S.

He expressed remorse in a letter addressed to the court, saying he is “deeply sorry for my actions and for the harm they caused.”

“One of my greatest fears is that I will die far away from my family,” he wrote. “I love my children and my family very much, and I hope that I may one day have the opportunity to spend the remaining years of my life with them.”