DRUG KINGPIN GETS LIFE PLUS 35

A "ruthless drug kingpin" who prosecutors say led a massive San
Antonio-based marijuana-trafficking network was sentenced Friday to spend
the rest of his life in prison along with his two hired assassins.

Nicknamed "El Pecho de Oro," or "Chest of Gold," drug lord Hugo Villarreal
Solis remained silent as he stood before U.S. District Judge Fred Biery and
was sentenced to life plus 35 years behind bars.

A jury in February convicted Villarreal, 35, of San Antonio, on 27 federal
charges, including three local killings and drug conspiracy.

According to federal prosecutors, Villarreal operated a drug-distribution
network responsible for transporting millions of dollars worth of marijuana
across the Texas-Mexico border for much of the past decade. Prosecutors
contend Villarreal used enforcers to eliminate his competition.

While Villarreal was convicted of only three murders, Assistant U.S.
Attorney Jason Davis said officials believe his organization is responsible
for many more deaths.

"At this point, I'm still not sure how many bodies there are out there,"
Biery said before pronouncing sentence.

The judge said he will request that Villarreal be placed in the
highest-security unit in the federal prison system where such prisoners as
"Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski and Gambino crime boss John Gotti were sent.

"You need to be locked away in as secure a place as possible," Biery said.

Villarreal also was ordered to pay $5,000 in restitution for the burial of
one of his victims.

Also sentenced Friday to life plus 10 years in prison were two defendants
labeled as Villarreal's hit men: Roberto "Raton" Lopez Rivera, 31, a
Mexican national; and Jose Abel Rodriguez III, 22, of San Antonio.

The same federal jury in February convicted Lopez and Rodriguez on 10
combined counts, including conspiracy and murder.

Lawyers for the men have said their clients will appeal.

Federal, state and local officials who worked to disband Villarreal's
organization attended Friday's hearing, as did several jurors who convicted
the trio after a three-week trial.

Davis said the men's punishment fits their crimes.

Villarreal and Lopez were convicted in the local slaying of Idelfonso
"Poncho" Chavarria after jurors found that Villarreal solicited Lopez to
kill Chavarria over a drug debt. Chavarria was executed with a gunshot in
the back of his head in July 2000.

Davis described Lopez as a "cold-blooded killer who doesn't deserve to see
daylight again."

The prosecutor and a Spanish interpreter read aloud letters written to the
defendant by two young girls who fearfully testified against Lopez at
trial. The two girls said they saw Lopez run from the murder scene and
viewed Chavarria's body.

One girl wrote: "Dear Raton, I am thankful that you didn't kill us, but
then again, I'm mad and angry of what you did." She ended her letter by
saying, "I hope you die or stay in jail for the rest of your life."

Lopez's defense attorney, Patrick Moran, questioned the young girls'
identification of his client as the gunman.

In another slaying that authorities described as a slaughter with
semiautomatic rifles, Villarreal was accused of using subordinates to hire
Rodriguez and Guillermo Recio to kill Villarreal's rival, Jorge Ruvalcaba.

Ruvalcaba, 40, and another man, Cesar Blake, 26, were shot Feb. 28, 1997,
as they sat in a car outside a San Antonio nightclub. Villarreal and
Rodriguez were convicted in the double slaying. Recio later was killed in a
drive-by shooting.

A heavily tattooed Rodriguez maintained his innocence in court Friday,
claiming he was framed.

"I am not a killer, but merely a car thief," he said.