CAF associate sentenced in San Diego

Former Mexican official, and CAF collaborator sentenced

Nearly two years after his arrest, as a routine traffic stop, Jesus Marquez Quionez is at the end of a lengthy court process, which concluded today, as he pled guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiracy to launder money.

Marquez was indicted along with 42 others in highly publicized strike at the remains of the Tijuana Cartel, AFO/CAF, now touted as the Fernando Sanchez Organization, by San Diego law enforcement.

FSO members trafficked in methemphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and were engaged in robbery, kidnapping, smuggling, and arms dealing.  The July 2010 indictment painted a picture of Marquez, a 41 year old family man as a corrupted official, who used his influence, and cross border connections to further the agenda of organized crime.  Marquez, until the July arrest was the director of liaison between San Diego based law enforcement and the Mexican Attorney Generals office, in Tijuana.

Marquez was caught in dozens of over 50,000 recorded conversations, during the course of the investigation.  Conversations, that prosecutors allege, and Marquez now admits showed him in the pocket of an FSO lieutenant, Jose Najera Gil.  The conversations include Gil asking Marquez to change the course of an official investigation into a double homicide that occured in Tijuana in March of 2010.

The murders were ordered by Gil, and perpetuated by FSO members, the victims alleged to be members of the gang led by Teodoro Garcia Simental, referred to demeaningly as 'the fishitas', by Gil, over the wire taps.  Gil wanted the police reports to reflect the opposite, deferring and transferring blame to the rival crew.

In another, Marquez was told to change his cell phone, after being given another one by Gil.  Marquez also asked Gil to purchase him an apartment, Gil stalled him, saying more money would be available soon.  Attorney for Marquez, Patrick Hall, initially said that the talks between Gil and Marquez had been taken out of context, due a language barrier.  Now, after the guilty plea, they claim Gil was at first an informant of Marquez, who was developing him as a cooperator, for his own investigative purposes.

 Gil, apparently had been a previous employee of the Baja Attorney General's office.  During the sentencing, Marquez, addressing the court and Judge William Hayes, apologized to his family, and the government for his actions.  He also explained that 'The relationship I had with this individual started with good intentions', before stating that he allowed the relationship to become corrupted. 

Hall downplayed both of the charges, and the guilt, saying that the information Marquez gave to Gil about the murders was secondhand, from a neighbor, who lived near the scene of the killings.  The money laundering charges, a scheme to smuggle 13 million in cash from Los Angeles to Mexico, stemmed from a third party, friend of Marquez's who asked him for help to transport the money.

 Marquez wanted to use his contacts in the FSO to facilitate the operation.   Nothing ever transpired.  Authorities and other media sources state that the money was the property of the FSO.  Of the 43 defendants named in the unsealed indictment, 39 have pled guilty, and four are believed to be in Mexico.

It has been a long road for Marquez, as his wife and children looked on in the courtroom, he was sentenced to eight years, and one month.  The charges he pled to, carried a possible maximum sentence of life in prison.  He exhaled and put his head down, as the judge read the sentence.  Leaving the courtroom he blew a kiss at his family.  

Sources:  AFN Tijuana, UT San Diego.