The U.S. Justice Department released the information below:
A Mexican national pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to
distribute cocaine and methamphetamine for unlawful importation into the United
States, and using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the
drug trafficking conspiracy.
According to
court documents, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, 67, of Michoacán, Mexico,
trafficked cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States for Mexico-based
cartels for over two decades. From around 2002 to 2010, Oseguera Cervantes
operated as a member of the Milenio Cartel in Jalisco, Mexico, overseeing
narcotics sales, protecting territories from rival cartels, and supervising and
maintaining the operations of methamphetamine laboratories. He procured
precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and distributed
methamphetamine and cocaine destined for the United States.
The court
filings state that since around 2010, Oseguera Cervantes worked with and
reported directly to his notorious and now-deceased brother, Nemesio Oseguera
Cervantes, also known as “Mencho,” who co-founded and led the Cartel de Jalisco
Nueva Generación (CJNG). The CJNG is one of the most prolific and dangerous
drug cartels in Mexico, based in the State of Jalisco, which traffics
multi-tonnage quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine into the United States.
Oseguera Cervantes furthered CJNG’s drug trafficking operations, including by
supplying precursor chemicals to CJNG methamphetamine laboratories and
distributing cocaine and methamphetamine for the CJNG. He also collected drug
proceeds and managed CJNG’s money laundering activities, such as transferring
drug proceeds from the United States to Mexico through currency exchange
locations. When collecting drug proceeds or attending meetings to discuss drug
trafficking, Oseguera Cervantes armed himself with a pistol.
Oseguera
Cervantes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute five kilograms or more of
cocaine and 500 grams or more of methamphetamine destined to the United States,
as well as using, carrying, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of the drug
trafficking conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13 and faces a
mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in prison and a maximum penalty of two
consecutive life sentences in prison. A federal district court judge will
determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and
other statutory factors.
Assistant
Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division
and Administrator Terrance C. Cole of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
made the announcement.
The DEA’s
Special Operations Division Bilateral Investigations Unit Los Angeles is
investigating the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International
Affairs provided valuable assistance to Oseguera Cervantes’ February 2025 transfer from
Mexico to the United States pursuant to Mexico’s National Security law. The
Department of Justice thanks the Government of Mexico for its assistance in
securing Oseguera Cervantes’ presence in the United States for prosecution.
Chief Kaitlin
Sahni of the Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Unit (NDDU) and Trial Attorneys Lernik
Begian, Douglas Meisel, and Nicole Lockhart, of the Criminal Division’s Money
Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section are prosecuting the case.
The Money
Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section’s (MNF) mission is to take the
profit out of crime, eliminate drug cartels, and protect the U.S. financial
system. MNF pursues criminal prosecutions and criminal and civil asset recovery
actions involving: financial facilitators who launder profits for criminals;
financial institutions and their officers and employees whose actions threaten
the U.S. financial system and financial institutions; international money
launderers who support transnational organized crime; and the top command and
control of international drug trafficking organizations.
MNF’s Narcotic
and Dangerous Drug Unit investigates and prosecutes the top command and control
elements of international drug cartels, drug trafficking organizations and
related transnational criminal organizations.
This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States.
