Thread: Officials: Plea deal paved way to the top of cartel

Officials: Plea deal paved way to the top of cartel
After prison time in Texas was cut short, Cardenas went on to life as reputed drug chief
By DANE SCHILLER
Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
May 16, 2009, 10:26PM


LONG PATH BACK BEHIND BARS
Osiel Cardenas served time in a U.S. prison years ago, long before reputedly becoming a drug boss.

1992: Arrested in Brownsville on cocaine charges

1993: Pleads guilty, sentenced to 63 months

1993: Returned to Mexico in prisoner exchange

1999: Accused of threatening to kill two U.S. federal agents

2003: Arrested by Mexican army

2007: Extradited to Houston

U.S. Department of Justice


Long before the reputed head of one of Mexico’s most powerful drug cartels was sent to Houston to face justice, long before a $2 million reward was offered for his capture, and long before Mexican soldiers arrested him after a wild shootout, Osiel Cardenas Guillen was behind bars in Texas on charges that could have put him away for years.

Instead, the alleged kingpin secured a plea bargain in 1993 that cut the prison time he faced and allowed him to return to Mexico, according to documents long tucked away in a Texas federal court warehouse.

Less than a year later, Cardenas walked out of an Oklahoma prison and went on to become one of the hemiÂ*sphere’s most wanted men.

Once a mid-level gangster selling cocaine in a steakhouse parking lot in Brownsville, he climbed to the top of the Gulf Cartel smuggling syndicate which has pumped drugs and money through Houston for years, authorities say.

“What happened here is not only unfortunate, it sends the wrong signal and quickly becomes the stuff of legend and narco corridos,â€

More wonderful gifts our country has been given from Mexico.