Wife of Gulf Cartel plaza boss pleads guilty to money laundering
October 6, 2022
The wife of a Gulf Cartel plaza boss, her sister and another woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to launder more than $800,000.
Jessenia Flores-Salinas, Julia Judith Flores-Salinas and Alyssa Giselle Vera all reached plea deals with federal prosecutors.
Jessenia is married to Hugo Armando “La Cabra” Cortinas-Salinas, who is the purported Gulf Cartel boss of Miguel Aleman.
Federal authorities arrested Jessenie and her sister Julia on Dec. 2, 2021 in Roma during a joint operation between Border Patrol and the Starr County Sheriff’s Office that resulted in the seizure of $809,980 from a residence at 879 Austin Road.
During the operation, authorities watched as Jessenia arrived with a young man before being greeted by a man resembling Cortinas-Salinas.
It has remained unclear whether Cortinas-Salinas was ever in custody and social media posts from accounts that spread drug cartel news as recent as August allege he is active in cartel affairs in Tamaulipas.
As for the Roma residence, a search by authorities resulted in the discovery of money in shoe boxes, backpacks and inside concealed compartments of an entertainment center.
During an interview, Julia told agents that the money belonged to her sister and that the currency was from drug proceeds. She also told them that Jessenia was married to Cortinas-Salinas.
She also claimed she helped Jessenia count the money and video found on her cellphone later showed her counting stacks of cash.
Agents honed in on the residence after catching Vera trying to smuggle $9,230 from Mexico without declaring it through the Roma port of entry on Oct. 22, 2021.
She claimed she was taking the money to Jessenia’s residence. She also said she had smuggled about $50,000 on a prior occasion and that the cash was proceeds from human smuggling.
Federal court records indicate all three women reached plea deals with the government, but as of press time only the plea deals for Jessenia and Alyssa were available in federal court records.
The documents are identical and the same deal was likely extended to Julia.
In exchange for pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, prosecutors agreed to dismiss three additional counts of money laundering against Jessenia and one count of money laundering against Vera.
Both Jessenia and Julia faced the three additional counts while Vera only faced one.
Prosecutors also agreed to recommend a downward departure at sentencing if all three women demonstrate a clear acceptance of responsibility.
The government is also moving to seize $819,210, the four-bedroom residence at 879 Austin Road and a plot at the Rivera subdivision on Daisy Street in Roma.
The trio is scheduled for sentencing on Dec. 16.
Wow that is pretty amazing they get caught laundering almost a million USD and don’t try to hide that it is the results of drug and human smuggling proceeds.
ReplyDeleteThey admit to everything and get their things taken away but don’t goto jail.
They are just going to acquire more money, even faster in the same exact way.
Yup. I see at least two possible routes in this aftermath:
Delete(1) They go to Mexico and live there with more drug money, and never cross back to the US.
(2) Live cleanly in the US but you’re fucked with a bad criminal record. They can try to live with drug money again but they will risk a long jail time if caught.
Guess which one they will take?
11:57 Dont think she can stay in Mexico.
DeleteChicks man
ReplyDeleteAlot of dirty money in starr county purpose.nacos.y.nacos.wanbabe gangsters rio grande city full of those all the way to Cameron county
ReplyDeleteIn zapata county their a barrio.named Guerrero chico.named after all the people from Guerrero Tamaulipas living there it's the same all over the border towns infested .
ReplyDeleteI guess there is no Money Exchange business in Roma TX. The only business they are going to learn is bend over at the waist spread that ass and cough.
ReplyDeleteHaving been through Rio Grande City many times, it is almost comic when passing through the barrio to see the one in 50 houses that stand out like castles amongst the squalor and think, ain't no question who the plugs are around here.
ReplyDelete