Last of 7 pleads guilty in Gulf Cartel bribe scheme

May 15, 2012 9:42 PM

Madeline Buckley
The Brownsville Herald

The remaining man accused in a Gulf Cartel bribery scheme has pleaded guilty, and all seven are now awaiting sentencing.
Carlos Melo, 38, pleaded guilty last week to his role in bribing a federal undercover agent. He appeared before U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen.

The plea agreement states that Melo was responsible for offering about $250,000 of the $800,000 total offered to the agent to ensure that Gulf Cartel operative Juan Carlos de la Cruz Reyna be released to members of the cartel rather than Mexican authorities upon the completion of a federal prison sentence.



The government will recommend a sentence on the low end of the spectrum for Melo, according to the agreement.

De la Cruz Reyna and three others — Adalberto Nunez Venegas, 39, Juan Trejo Venegas, 33, and Jose Cruz Venegas Esquivel, 36 — pleaded guilty in April to bribing a public official.

Julio Torres, 39, and Gaspar Montes Martinez, 41, entered guilty pleas earlier this month.

De la Cruz Reyna entered a cold plea, meaning he did not come to a sentencing agreement with the government.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested the men in March in connection with what they say was an ongoing plot to bribe an agent posing as a corrupt ICE official.

De la Cruz Reyna, who was completing a 30-month sentence for threatening to kill federal agents, feared kidnapping by a rival cartel or arrest by Mexican authorities upon his removal from the United States, court documents say. He had been scheduled for release at the end of March.

Hanen scheduled Melo’s sentencing for Aug. 13. The others will be sentenced in July and August.

Last of 7 pleads guilty in Gulf Cartel bribe scheme | cartel, gulf, scheme - TheMonitor.com

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