Two sentenced after law enforcement uncovers migrants in 100-degree trailer
Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney s Office
May 11, 2021
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A 28-year-old Laredoan has been ordered to federal prison for conspiring to transport illegal migrants, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
Jose Maria Ramirez pleaded guilty on Nov. 24, 2020, while co-conspirator Eloy Martinez-Carranza entered a guilty plea on Dec. 8, 2020.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo ordered Ramirez to serve a 57-month sentence to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. In handing down the sentence, the court noted how Ramirez has repeatedly broken the law and has had his supervised release revoked multiple times. Marmolejo further explained there was sufficient evidence to show he was heavily involved in the conspiracy and was correctly held accountable for the migrants in the tractor-trailer as well as the stash house.
Zambada was Sinaloa cartel’s chief accountant for 15 years
Speculation that ‘El Rey’ may be in witness protection
A person holds a face mask, which depicts Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jesús ‘El Rey’ Zambada gave evidence against the drug lord at his trial in New York. Photograph: Francisco Guasco/EPA
A person holds a face mask, which depicts Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Jesús ‘El Rey’ Zambada gave evidence against the drug lord at his trial in New York. Photograph: Francisco Guasco/EPA
Staffandagences
Wed 12 May 2021 17.09 EDT
Last modified on Wed 12 May 2021 17.10 EDT
A department spokesman said Zambada was no longer engaged in sanctionable activities.
El Rey, or The King, was arrested in 2008 after a gunbattle in Mexico City, where he was suspected of controlling smuggling through the capital’s international airport. He was extradited to the United States four years later.
The goal of sanctions is behavioral change, the spokesman said, adding that El Rey demonstrated a change in “behavior and circumstances.” A person could be re-designated to the sanctions list should new evidence or circumstances merit, he said.
Brother to the head of the Sinaloa cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, El Rey was a witness at the trial in the United States of former cartel boss Guzman in 2019.
HAGÃ TÃA (The Guam Daily Post) â Joel Po Ymballa, 50, was emotional in federal court as he was sentenced to serve 37 months in prison for smuggling $400,000 worth of methamphetamine from the Philippines to Guam in 2017.
âEveryday I apologize to my mom, your honor,â said Ymballa during his sentencing hearing before District Court of Guam Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatwood on Monday. âMy mom is 71 and she is all alone here in Guam.â
He learned of his fate after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy to import a kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, of meth to Guam.
âThe best way that you can really mean that you really care about what you just said in the sincerity of your apology is that you improve upon yourself,â said Judge Tydingco-Gatewood. âTo really focus on getting your life in order, getting off the drugs, taking advantage of this drug treatment program that your attorney and the U.S. attorneyâs office is recommending that you be accepte