Houston drug trafficker gets 27 years in prison
Zamora, also accused in the slaying of an innocent man, also gets $3 million fine
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 14, 2010, 10:34PM

A convicted narco-trafficker who also is accused of engineering a hit on the wrong man was handed a stiff 27-year-prison sentence Tuesday for moving and selling cocaine from his East End home onto the streets of Houston.

U.S. District Judge David Hittner sentenced Jaime Arturo Zamora, a 40-year-old former Houston city parks employee, to 327 months in federal prison without parole — a sentence even more stringent than that of Mexican Gulf Cartel boss Osiel Cardenas.

As part of Zamora's plea agreement, court records show, he admitted to his involvement in a drug conspiracy and could have been eligible for a sentence of as little as 10 years. Instead, Hittner doled out much more, though not the maximum of life in prison.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston would not comment on specifics of the sentence.

"What I can tell you, is that is the upper end of the guidelines," said Angela Dodge of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Cardenas, convicted in Houston and considered one of the most diabolical drug warlords in recent times, is serving 25 years but is set to be released in 14 years.

Hittner also ordered Zamora to forfeit $3 million, the same amount he is accused of shipping to his partners in Mexico, according to a statement from the federal prosecutors.

Monterrey connection
Zamora's attorneys did not return phone calls Tuesday for comment.

Zamora confessed that for seven years he and members of a drug cartel cell worked with their criminal counterparts in Monterrey, Mexico, to distribute more than 150 kilograms of cocaine and send millions of dollars in profits back to Mexico.

Houston-area law enforcement authorities have long claimed that Zamora was a major character in Houston's drug underworld - having taken over the lucrative business of trafficking from his brother, who was murdered in Mexico while on the job.

7,000 kilos imported
DEA Special Agent Wendell Campbell said Zamora had strong ties to drug traffickers in Monterrey and was believed responsible for importing as much as 7,000 kilograms of cocaine into the Houston region.

Zamora still faces trial in Harris County, where he is charged with planning the execution of a man mistaken for his hated drug rival. Instead, another man who had no connection to the rival, Jose Perez, was gunned down on May 20, 2006, after having dinner with his family at Chilos, a seafood restaurant in southeast Houston.

Murder trial pondered
The intended target, Santiago Salinas, also known as "El Narizon" or "Big Nose" — sat at a nearby table and escaped.

He was killed later by unidentified assailants.

A decision on whether the state will pursue the capital murder case following Zamora's 27-year federal sentence will not be made for at least a few weeks, said Donna Hawkins, spokeswoman for the Harris County District Attorney's Office.

When he was arrested by the Drug Enforcement Agency on the drug charges, Zamora, a former Little League coach, had already been charged in the Chilos restaurant killing.

He was free on a $450,000 bond on July 16 when agents nabbed him as he was trying to "take delivery of six kilograms of cocaine," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

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