CHICAGO _ Federal prosecutors in Chicago plan to present evidence Monday that a high-ranking member of the notorious Sinaloa drug cartel tried to put a "hit" on a key witness against him at the federal jail in the Loop.
Jesus Beltran Leon, who prosecutors say worked directly with the sons of Sinaloa boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court to importing thousands of pounds of narcotics into the U.S. on behalf of the cartel. He pleaded guilty in April.
In asking for a sentence of at least 35 years in prison, prosecutors said in a recent court filing that Leon offered to pay a fellow Metropolitan Correctional Center inmate $25,000 to "severely harm" another "extremely high-ranking" cartel member _ identified only as Cooperating Witness 1 _ in advance of his then-scheduled trial.
"Split his head," Leon allegedly ordered, according to prosecutors. Another inmate later secretly recorded Leon talking about the planned hit and will testify about the conversation Monday before U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo, according to the filing.
"As a direct result of (Leon's) threat, Cooperating Witness 1 was forced to spend three weeks in isolation and then be transferred to a different facility" to protect him from harm, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors said the scheme to harm the witness was standard operating procedure for Leon, who was known to carry a gold-plated AK-47 and talked in communications intercepted by law enforcement over the years about violence, kidnappings and murder on behalf of the cartel.
"(Leon) operated at the highest levels of the narcotics trafficking world, moving thousands of kilograms of drugs into, and millions of dollars of drug proceeds out of, the United States for years," Assistant U.S. Attorney Erika Csicsila wrote. "(His) role within the cartel was integral, and perpetuated the destruction and violence that goes hand-in-hand with trafficking in illegal drugs."
In asking for the minimum possible sentence of 10 years in prison, Leon's attorneys say prosecutors have vastly overstated his role in the cartel and ignored compelling evidence that Leon was brutally tortured by Mexican marines after his arrest in 2014 _ abuse that was allegedly witnessed by U.S. federal drug agents.
"(Leon) was tortured physically, brutally, and repeatedly," Leon's lead attorney, Beau Brindley, wrote in a filing last month. "If one must choose between being tough on crime and tough on torture, one should choose the latter as the more insidious evil to root out. Unlike crime itself, this kind of torture erodes the very respect for our institutions."
Castillo had previously heard evidence about the alleged torture as part of a defense effort to dismiss the indictment. While Castillo declined to toss the charges, he said in a ruling that the allegations painted a "disturbing picture" of tactics employed by law enforcement in Mexico.
The judge also said he was "deeply disturbed by the accusation that American law enforcement agents may be condoning or turning a blind eye to these tactics."
Leon, 35, also known as "El Trebol," which is Spanish for "The Clover," was added to an indictment in 2014 against the notorious Mexican cartel that has been described as the most significant drug case in Chicago's history. He pleaded guilty to narcotics trafficking in April in a declaration that carries no agreement with prosecutors on a possible sentence that could be as much as life in prison.
The indictment, which also names El Chapo and several of his top henchmen, alleged that the cartel used jumbo jets, submarines and tunnels to smuggle massive amounts of drugs into the U.S., much of which was later distributed in wholesale quantities through a network built by Chicago twins Pedro and Margarito Flores.
The charges alleged that Leon acted as a lieutenant for El Chapo's son, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar, and helped coordinate vast shipments of drugs into the U.S. for distribution. The cartel members then laundered billions of dollars in proceeds back to Mexico, according to the charges.
To protect their lucrative drug trade, cartel members, including Leon, used any means necessary, including "bribing corrupt public officials," committing kidnappings and extortion, and threatening or committing violence against rival drug dealers as well as members of law enforcement, the charges alleged.
According to a recent prosecution filing, a former high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel cooperating with federal authorities who knew Leon for more than a decade said he witnessed one of El Chapo's sons offering Leon an "investment opportunity" to import kilograms of cocaine from Venezuela by airplane. He accepted, the cartel member told authorities.
The same informant told authorities that he had learned from Leon that Leon was with El Chapo's son when they picked up the cartel boss after his escape from prison in 2001, the filing said.
Another former cartel member cooperating with the feds told authorities that he saw Leon running in February 2014 _ only to learn that he had just been at a restaurant with two of El Chapo's sons when a waiter told them the "government was coming," the filing said.
The informant said Leon told him they had exchanged clothing with waiters and then escaped, leaving behind their cars, according to the prosecution filing.
Guzman was convicted in New York earlier this year of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking charges and sentenced in June to life in prison.
