Zetas Money Laundering Case: Pancho Colorado gets 20 year sentence in his retrial

Lucio R. Borderland Beat from U.S. Press release and Archives

Pancho Cessa Colorado suffered heart attack in Louisiana courtroom in January re-trail

Note from Lucio: This is the second retrial won by Cessa Colorado on Appeal .  The  retrial was in January of this year  in the first trial for laundering, sentencing of the 20 years  was concurrent with the 5 years sentence in the first trial  for attempting  to bribe the judge.  

During his re-trial, Cessa Colorado was rushed to the hospital,  mid trial and under heavy security, suffering from chest pains.  The Shreveport Times published this report at the time:

“Cessa was rushed from court mid-trial Tuesday and transported under heavy security via ambulance to University Health where he was listed in stable condition, and released later the same day. 

He was back in the courtroom early Wednesday, sitting among his defense team wearing a hospital bracelet and sporting bandages on his arms and hand. A member of the defense team said he'd suffered a minor heart attack.

Despite Tuesday's medical emergency, court proceedings carried on as usual the next day as undercover officers took the stand to testify. These agents told the jury how Cessa, his son and his business partner reportedly attempted to pay off a federal judge in exchange for a shortened sentence on money laundering charges being levied against them in early 2014.”

U.S. Press release from today: 

United States Attorney Richard L. Durbin, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge William Cotter announced the arrest of Francisco Antonio Colorado-Cessa, a 55-year-old Veracruz, Mexico businessman. Colorado-Cessa was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for laundering Los Zetas drug proceeds and attempting to bribe a federal judge.

In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Donald E. Walter ordered that Colorado-Cessa forfeit to the U.S. Government $60 million in U.S. Currency and property—proceeds seized by authorities involved in the money laundering scheme—including two planes and five bank accounts.

In December 2015, a federal jury in Austin convicted Colorado-Cessa, the owner of ADT Petroservicios, an oil services company in Mexico doing business with the Mexican National Oil Company PEMEX, of one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The conspiracy charge centered on a scheme to launder millions of dollars in Los Zetas drug distribution proceeds through purchasing, training, breeding and racing American quarter horses in the United States. Testimony during that trial revealed a shell game by Colorado Cessa, a close associate of the Zetas drug cartel’s top leaders including Miguel Angel Trevino Morales (aka “Z-40”), Oscar Omar Trevino Morales (aka “Z-42”), and others involving straw purchasers and transactions worth millions of dollars in New Mexico,

Oklahoma, California and Texas to disguise the source of the drug money and make the proceeds from the sale of quarter horses or their race winnings appear legitimate.

Over 400 quarter horses seized by federal authorities in June 2012 as part of the above mentioned money laundering operation have been sold for approximately $12 million. One of the seized horses, Tempting Dash, winner of the Dash for Cash at Lone Star Park race track in Grand Prairie, TX, in October 2009, sold at an auction for a record $1.7 million in November 2013.

In January 2016, a separate federal jury found Colorado-Cessa guilty of one count of conspiracy to bribe a public official and one substantive count of bribery, by offer or promise, of a public official. Evidence during trial revealed that Colorado-Cessa and others conspired in 2013 to pay a $1.2 million bribe to a federal judge in order to secure a reduced sentence for Colorado-Cessa in the above-mentioned money laundering case. According to court records, at no time before or during this investigation was the federal judge involved in the alleged criminal activity.

“Today’s re-sentencing of Francisco Colorado-Cessa to 20 years in prison is confirmation that the American public is steadfast in their conviction that he was properly found guilty of money laundering and bribery the first time,” said IRS Criminal Investigation Special Agent in Charge William Cotter, San Antonio Field Office. “Even with a second trial, the jury quickly came to the same conclusion –guilty. IRS Criminal Investigation was proud to be part of the law enforcement team that brought this criminal to justice.”

“The sentence handed down today ends years of litigation, and imposes significant punishment upon the defendant. The FBI appreciates the hard work and dedication of all the prosecutors and agents who have handled this important case, which demonstrates our collective commitment to protect the United States from the violence and corruption associated with Mexican drug cartels,” stated FBI Special Agent in Charge Christopher Combs, San Antonio Division.

This investigation was conducted by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration with assistance from the United States Marshals Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) and U.S. Border Patrol. Other judicial districts involved in this matter include the Western District of Oklahoma, Central District of California, Southern District of Texas, District of New Mexico and the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)

Below is his appeal

  Zetas Trial-Fransico Pancho Colorado Cessa Appeal 5.7.15 by Chivis Martinez