400k pesos (27k USD) Bribe to Judge Frees son of El Chango Mendez

Translated for Borderland Beat from a Milenio article by Otis B Fly-Wheel

A Federal Judge allegedly bribed by Michoacán narco's, frees son of a capo, various audio shows that La Familia and Los Viagras rescued El Chucin Mendez.

Taking of the Municipal Presidency

Jorge Armando Wong Aceituno, the Federal Judge that exonerated 43 of the 44 cases of detained AUC after a gun battle that killed nine people in Apatzingan on January 6th. He was allegedly bribed by the remnants of La Familia Michoacana and leaders of Los Viagra to prevent the son of a high capo being identified by the Federal Government and being brought to trial.

A dozen telephone calls detail the conversations between both organisations soliciting the bribe to the Judge and an Agent of the Federal Public Ministry, who disappeared evidence and collaborated to reduce the charges to obtain the release of one of the children of Jesus Mendez "El Chango", founder of La Familia Michoacana.



Recordings that Milenio had access to, among other data, reveal hitherto unknown that :

a) Operators of La Familia Michoacana and Los Viagra, a group that had been recruiting sicarios to fill the space left by Los Caballeros Templarios. They were behind the movement that took the Municipal Presidency of Apatzingan last December, which ended in a shoot out with Federal Police.

b) On the 6th of January, to free the Mayoress, the Army detained Jesus Mendez "El Chuchin", son of Jesus Mendez Vargas "El Chango", serial killer confessed to be the leader of the cartel after the fall of Enrique Kike Plancarte, who was to be extradited to the United States to stand trial for charges of drug trafficking in the New York District Court.

c) El Chango and Nicolas Sierra Santana, leader of Los Viagra, came up with the money for the bribe to facilitate the release of El Chuchin, and possibly the rest of his company, they will be free.

d) At least in the case of one person, the process ended up with the defeat of the PGR and PGJE, 43 of the 44 detainees ended up being released, by a corrupt bribed Federal Judge.

The recordings, that total 40 minutes, reveal details of how the son of El Chango Mendez participated in taking the Mayors office, an act which was initially presented as a social protest, but in which there was a presence of people linked to criminals.

The confrontation at the palace left 9 people dead

The audios also gave the idea of how the plan was hatched to bribe the Judge for the release of El Chuchin, though it doesn't mention by name who they were, it is specified in the recordings that payments would be made to the Judge leading the trial of the detainees in Apatzingan at the beginning of this year.

The Judge of the Fifth District Court and responsible for the exoneration of the autodefensas detainees, Jorge Armando Aceituno Wong, was the one who took the case.

Not only that: during one week imprisoned in the Maximum Security Prison of Tepic, he hid himself as an auto-defensa, which prevented him from being identified and being brought to the attention of SEIDO (Assistant Attorney General specializing in investigation of Organised Crime), where he was considered a high value target.

During his stay in the prison, he was admitted under the name Juan Carlos Guttierez Segura, even though no authority noticed him, or knew in effect that they had the son of El Chango Mendez.

Until now, the participation of operators of organized criminals, in the taking of the Mayors Office of Apatzingan, on the 22nd of December to the 6th of January had not been substantiated, despite suspicion in different areas of Federal Government that the movement was infiltrated by organised crime.

From the start, the taking of the mayors office was presented like it was a civic protest to the gun battle between Hipolito Mora's group and Simon El Americano, on the 17th of December 2014 at La Ruana.

When Group 250 of the extinct Fuerza Rurales occupied the Municipal presidency, half a hundred self defence forces ensured that the protest took as a goal to demand from the Federal Government to support Mora in his confrontation with El Americano, stop those responsible for the shooting and put pressure on Alfredo Castillo Commissioner for Michoacán, to launch an offensive against the Knights Templar and specially its leader Servando Gomez La Tuta.

For us, in this moment the battle is being won by La Tuta, said Nicolas Sierra, one of the leaders of Los Viagra, who led the taking of the Municipal Presidency and who would later play a central role in the liberation of Mendez Junior. He spoke little after the occupation of City Hall, when they hung banners that said Mr President Enrique Pena Nieto, the people demand the arrest of the criminals.

But these arguments were only a façade. The telephone conversations, in which stand out a lawyer and a weapons smuggler known to Federal Intelligence, revealed that among those who co-ordinated the occupation of the Municipal Presidency was El Chuchin, also know as El Leon Rapado, who is considered to be the heir to the criminal empire of his father El Chango Mendez.

His apprehension, this past 6th of January, started an operation of corruption that ended ten days later, with the Judge Jorge Armado Wong ordering his liberation, when the case prosecuted by the PGR and PGJE collapsed, the Public Ministry said the Judge, had failed in the integration of its records, which is the reason why the charges were dropped.

The recordings leave clear that the Public Ministry failed for one reason, because they were ordered to do it.

The conversations occurred in 14 calls made between the 7th of January and the 5th of February, and they give the idea of why so easily Ministerial accusations are made, when you have a good defense and the Public Ministry is determined to torpedo the case.

The dialogues featured, among others, Jaime Guttierez Escobedo, known arms dealer that has been at the service of La Familia Michoacana, Los Valencia, and Los Templarios, also a lawyer identified as El Licenciado Nahum, and Roberto Contreras Betancourt, son in law of Guttierez Escobedo.

Since the start, Guttierez Escobedo, was an old friend of El Chango Mendez, lent his services as a facilitator who arranged the money transfers to pay the bribes and obtain the release of El Chuchin.

On the 8th of January, Nahum and Guttierez Escobedo spoke for the first time. They find out that the son of El Chango Mendez was arrested and transferred to the high security prison El Rincon in Nayarit, and began to strategize the legal and illegal defence of the boy, who they say broke the law.

Nahum: He was transferred there, but the records remain here, do you know what crime he is accused of?

Jamie: Having a firearm

Nahum: Having a firearm, they will not be able to prove it, because to make a collection of weapons, necessarily who were the owners of the weapons.

Jamie: Yes

Nahum: No one is going to accept it.

The first signals that they sought to bribe the Public Ministry arrived the next day: Jaime Gutierrez Escobedo called his daughter, he informed her that Nahum had left for Uruapan and needed 10,000 pesos, because on Saturday, January 10th will begin the task of achieving that the charges against El Chuchin be dropped. That money, he said is to feed the Public Ministry so they destroy evidence of him collecting weapons.

On January the 10th, presumably after Nahum had "fed" the Public Ministry, the lawyer and Gutierrez Escobedo speak of how the accusations have begun to fade, and the importance of keeping the identity of El Chango Mendez son secret.

After attending the Public Ministry, Nahum boasts, already we have two of the three charges dropped against him, those of criminal association and possession of a firearm.

The last charge that remained is possession of a Beretta 9mm pistol, to dismiss this evidence, a teleconference had been arranged with El Chuchin, so that he was prepared and knew what to say in response to the testimony of the soldier who stopped him in Apatzingan.

The boy responded to the coaching, according to Nahum, "I am content I can defend myself with the information you have given me."

Jaime reveals that on that day, in some media outlets, appeared news that the son of El Chango Mendez had been detained in Apatzingan, Nahum responded angrily " What son a bitch said that?"

Nahum: "Nobody knows who he is, nobody knows who he is. So I asked Robert not to say anything, because the Attorney General approached me and said :  Hey do you know who the son of El Chango Mendez is? or his mother? because I know neither."

Jamie: Aha

Nahum: I ordered the public prosecutors office to drop it.

Jamie: Ah perfect.

On the 10th of January, Roberto Betancourt, son in law of Jamie Guttierez, called on the telephone and informed him that he had seen the sister of El Chango Mendez, who had given him 50,000 pesos towards the bribe to liberate El Chuchin. In open forum, Roberto admitted that in a few hours the Lawyer would deliver the bribe to the Judge and the Public Ministry.

Roberto: She already gave me the 50, I grabbed the 10 only, because I had to make a few payments.

Jamie: Yes, yes that's ok. At this time I haven't seen my friend, but more or less I prepared him for Wednesday, possibly then he will be free.

Roberto: Yes that's the way it will be.

Jamie: Exactly.

Roberto: And the sister said, "I know that my nephew will be freed, because he had already been in Seido since the beginning, yesterday Nahum told me he had coached him about what to say about the soldier, and that he was ready to go before the public prosecutor and the Judge on Wednesday but that the bribe had still to be delivered."

On the 12th of January, Nahum called Jamie. He said that "Juan Carlos" would be freed in a few hours. In this call its evident that the Judge is subservient to the Lawyer of the son of the capo, who gives the orders. In a last attempt to discover if El Chuchin is among those arrested, the PGR request an investigation.

Nahum: I've finished talking to the Judge, him to me.

Jamie: Aha

Nahum: In two hours, they say, he will be leaving, but in two hours when he leaves the office block, you have to be there at the prison.

Jamie: In two hours?

Nahum: In two hours, but they said, All is ok Lawyer, but they are suckers, it will be 24 hours that he was kept inside.

Jamie: Hey what did the Judge say?

Nahum: Well yes, excuse me, but they investigated it in Mexico, we gave them the order that we had investigated it, but we found nothing.

On the 14th of February, Nahum revealed that the Judge has advanced El Chuchins liberation, and it is clear who is financing the bribery, it is mentioned the El Gordo Nicolas Sierra Santana provided 100,000 pesos, and that the family of El Chango Mendez had handed over the rest.

Nicolas Sierra Santana El Gordo

On the 16th of January as promised, the Apatzingan detainees are freed by Judge Wong Aceituno, who argues that the Public Ministry failed in the integration of its preliminary investigations, not offering any solid evidence proving that the defendants actually carried weapons of exlusive use by the Army.

On the following day the 17th, Gutierrez called Roberto. The son of the capo was free and it was time to settle the bill. But between thieves there is no honor, both agree to keep part of the money and lied to El Chango Mendez and Nico.

Roberto: It must be 400 for the Ministry and the Judge, and the Lawyers 200 is separate.

Jamie: Well...

The army and Federal police go to the Municipal palace of Apatzingan and detain 44 people.



The Detained are transferred to Federal Prison in Nayarit

The first call between Jamie Gutierrez and the Laywer Nahum



The second call, informs of the transfer to Tepic prison of the son of El Chango Mendez.


With a 10,000 pesos bribe, the Public Ministry drop the charges of collection of firearms, and criminal association.


The Judge Aceituno informs his Lawyer that his client, the son of the capo will be freed in hours.



Judege Wong Aceituno order the immediate liberation of the 43 of the 44 detainees. Gutierrez Escobedo assures that the bribe is 400,000 pesos , the Public Ministry receive 200,000 pesos.


Original article in Spanish at Milenio

Update on the Judge in the case coming soon.

Categories: Bribery, El Chango Mendez, El Chuchin, La Familia Michoacana, Los Viagra, Nicolas Sierra Santana