CARTEL LIEUTENANT SENTENCED TO LIFE

A federal judge on Friday sentenced a lieutenant in the Sinaloa drug
cartel to life in prison after his conviction earlier of drug
trafficking.

Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones imposed the sentence on
Fernando Ontiveros-Arambula, 40, and ordered him to pay a $100,000
fine.

Jurors convicted Ontiveros-Arambula and co-defendant Manuel
Chavez-Betancourt, 19, in March of conspiracy to distribute more than
1,000 kilograms, or 2,200 pounds, of marijuana. Briones sentenced
Chavez-Betancourt in June to 10 years in prison.

Jurors also convicted Ontiveros-Arambula of an additional conspiracy
charge and of one count of possession with intent to distribute more
than 100 kilograms, or 220 pounds, of marijuana.

"The defendant's criminal actions certainly warranted this prison
term," said U.S. Attorney John E. Murphy in a news release. "The
sentence imposed reflects the seriousness of his crimes, his
propensity for violence and his blatant disregard for the rule of law."

During the trial, ICE agents testified that Ontiveros-Arambula became
an informant for the agency in 2008. He had told agents he used to
work for the rival Vicente Carrillo Fuentes cartel, until members of
that gang tried to kill him. Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs
Enforcement helped provide a U.S. visa for Ontiveros-Arambula, but
officials said he continued to direct a drug-trafficking operation.

Jurors also heard testimony that Ontiveros-Arambula was a high-level
lieutenant in the Sinaloa cartel who fought with members of the
Carrillo Fuentes cartel for control of the Juarez "plaza," or
drug-trafficking corridor.

Silvia Carbajal, a former girlfriend of Ontiveros-Arambula's,
testified that he told her "he was on the same level as 'Mayito,'" a
nickname for an associate of the Sinaloa cartel in alliance with
Joaquin "Chapo" Guzman.

The Sinaloa drug cartel has been in a vicious war with the Juarez
cartel since 2008. More than 6,000 people have been killed in Juarez
in the violence.

Law enforcement agents began investigating Ontiveros-Arambula after a
Border Enforcement Security Task force (BEST) conducting surveillance
spotted Chavez-Betancourt and another men, Jesus Gonzalez-Hernandez,
on Sept. 26, 2008, at store parking lots at Alameda and Carolina.

BEST officers arrested both men that day and seized 217 pounds of
marijuana from two vehicles and a toolshed at Gonzalez-Hernandez's
home in the Lower Valley. Officers also retrieved two handguns from
Gonzalez-Hernandez's house and car. He admitted the weapons belonged
to him, prosecutors said.

Investigators eventually traced the drugs and two other marijuana
loads to Ontiveros-Arambula's drug-trafficking organization.

Prosecutors characterized Chavez-Betancourt as a low-level operative
in Ontiveros-Arambula's organization. Gonzalez-Hernandez, who was
sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted of conspiracy
to distribute drugs, struck a plea agreement with prosecutors and
testified against Chavez-Betancourt. Prosecutors dropped 12 other
charges against Gonzalez-Hernandez.

Prosecutors said Ontiveros-Arambula had more than 100 people working
for him, including juveniles, in drug smuggling.

This case was investigated by DEA, ICE, FBI, the U.S. Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the Texas Department of
Public Safety and authorities in New Mexico