Brother of slain Mexican cartel leader is sentenced to 22 years in prison for drug trafficking plot

WASHINGTON -- A man whose slain brother led one of Mexico's most violent drug cartels was sentenced Friday to more than 22 years in U.S. prison for his part in a sprawling drug trafficking conspiracy that brought cocaine and methamphetamine to American streets.

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, the brother of the Jalisco New Generation co-founder known as El Mencho, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in July after the Mexican government handed him over to U.S. authorities last year alongside other high-ranking cartel leaders.

His case is part of a broader Trump administration effort to crack down on powerful cartels such as Jalisco New Generation, also known as CJNG, that have helped fuel America's drug epidemic.

"Oseguera Cervantes' sentence sends a clear message to criminals around the world that the Department of Justice is committed to the total elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations, including the CJNG," Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva, who leads the department's Criminal Division, said in an emailed statement.

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, 68, of Michoacán, Mexico, worked for cartels with his brother Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known as El Mencho, who was killed by the Mexican army in February, according to federal prosecutors.

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes was a leader of the Milenio Cartel and later reported directly to his brother after El Mencho became the CJNG's top leader, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors in Washington's federal court had recommended a 30-year prison sentence, noting that his duties included receiving CJNG drug proceeds, managing the cartel's money laundering activities and supervising meth laboratories.

"Rival cartels rarely settle disputes through diplomacy alone," prosecutors wrote in court papers. "And while there may be no nonviolent drug cartels in Mexico, (Oseguera Cervantes) was a member of particularly brutal cartels."

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes' attorneys requested a 20-year prison sentence, saying in court documents that he accepts full responsibility for his crimes and "blames no one except himself." They noted that he already has spent several years behind bars in Mexico for essentially the same conduct to which he pleaded guilty in the U.S.

He expressed remorse in a letter addressed to the court, saying he is "deeply sorry for my actions and for the harm they caused."

"One of my greatest fears is that I will die far away from my family," he wrote. "I love my children and my family very much, and I hope that I may one day have the opportunity to spend the remaining years of my life with them."

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Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed from Washington.