Gas blast wrecks Mexico children’s hospital, at least 3 dead
"Twins who ran major US drug ring sentenced to 14 years each" Associated Press January 28, 2015
CHICAGO — A federal judge sentenced twin brothers Tuesday to 14 years in prison each for running a nearly $2 billion North American drug ring, agreeing with prosecutors to drastically reduce their sentences as reward for their cooperation against Joaquin ‘‘El Chapo’’ Guzman and other Mexican cartel leaders.
I guess it was time to get back to that narrative.
Pedro and Margarito Flores, 33, were portrayed by prosecutors as among the most valuable traffickers-turned-informants in history. With credit for the time served awaiting sentencing and for good behavior in prison, the brothers could be out in as little as six years.
Security at sentencing in US District Court in Chicago was tighter than usual, with extra security checks outside courtroom doors and a bomb-sniffing dog sweeping for explosives. To protect them, neither of the twins’ attorneys was named in court.
Chief US District Judge Ruben Castillo said the brothers would be looking over their shoulders the rest of their lives — in prison and out — in fear that a cartel assassin was near.
Prosecutor Mike Ferrara had asked for a sentence of no more than 16 years. He said the twins’ cooperation led to indictments of Guzman and 50 others, and they had reached out to agents while in one ‘‘of the most dangerous cartels on earth.’’
The twins engaged cartel leaders for months, sometimes switching on recorders and shoving them in their pockets to gather evidence.
The brothers ran their operation from a Mexican ranch. Their network stretched from its Chicago hub to other US cities and Vancouver, British Columbia.
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