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Friday, May 8, 2015

Zetas Money Laundering Case: U.S appeals tosses out Pancho Colorado’s conviction and 20 yr sentence

by Lucio R. Borderland Beat: Use the search bar to access outstanding posts written by Chivis and Havana on the Zetas Trial and Bribery Cases

Colorado: "I will win the appeal, there was no evidence against me.." turns out the court of appeals agrees with him

Pancho 2nd on left 
The decision of the court of appeals gave Pancho Colorado the big win he said he was getting on his appeal.  He was the only of the convicted defendants in the Zetas Cartel Horse Racing money laundering trial to win an appeal.

The court of appeals found the District Court in Austin abused its discretion when commingling jury instructions with the other defendants, finding “the jury was improperly and harmfully instructed”, and may not have found the defendant guilty had they not been instructed in the manner identical to the other defendants.

Immediately following is the recap of the findings in a nutshell, but below the text of this post is a complete copy of the appeal and findings for all defendants.  The appeal has a good overview of trial details and the appeals for Jose Trevino, Huitron  and Garcia Solis.

These findings are for the money laundering case, the guilty conviction for the bribery attempt stands.  Pancho, his son and business partner all plead guilty to bribing the Federal Court judge in the money laundering case, offering 1 million dollars in exchange for a light sentence.

I am sure he is kicking himself over that move, after winning his appeal.

Following the arrests in the bribery case, Pancho was distraught that his son would be incarcerated for an extended time.  He offered a deal in open court, that in hindsight the court could be ruminating over, Pancho offered;
Let my son go, and I will not appeal”
Pancho Was sentenced to 5 years in Bribery Case

In February of this year, Pancho was given 5 years  the maximum sentence in the bribery case.  It was to run consecutively to the money laundering sentence of 20 years.  If the appeal sticks, with time served and good behavior he could soon walk out and deported back to Mexico.  He was arrested in the money laundering case in 2012 and has been in prison since his arrest.  However, it is not certain that a man who conspired behind bars to bribe a judge would qualify for “good behavior”, then again the U.S. has presented some softball judgments and deals when dealing with  cartels.

Pancho’s son and business partner already served a very short sentence and were deported to Mexico.  Once there, they immediately claimed their innocence, and slammed the U.S. for its corruption in the courts.
With trophy, conviction stands for Jose Treviño brother of Z40 and 42
Findings of the court:

The government repeatedly argued that, because Colorado purchased horses with funds from his company, ADT, and ADT was started with drug money in 2003 and 2004, Colorado therefore knowingly purchased horses in furtherance of the money-laundering conspiracy. 


But the horse-racing money-laundering conspiracy did not begin until 2008. Accordingly, our review of the record reveals no evidence from which a reasonable factfinder could trace Colorado’s horse purchases to illegal proceeds—or to illegal proceeds that had been commingled with legitimate funds.
Solis conviction stands

At best, the evidence shows that Colorado purchased 121 horses on behalf of conspiracy members using ADT funds and that he was closely associated with members of Los Zetas. While this might be evidence from which a properly instructed jury could infer that Colorado knowingly joined the money-laundering conspiracy—an issue on which we express no opinion—we cannot say “beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury verdict would have been the same absent the erro[neous]’” jury instruction given in this case.

This is particularly so given that the government’s expert witness specifically testified that Colorado “commingled personal and business” funds and expenses: a confused jury may have inferred from this testimony together with the erroneous instruction that the jury was obligated to infer from this evidence an intent to conceal.

Therefore, the district court abused its discretion in giving the commingling jury instruction it gave. The error was harmless as to Jose Trevino and Garcia–Solis. Because of the centrality of the commingling issue to Colorado’s conviction and the weak circumstantial evidence of his guilt, we cannot conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that the jury verdict would have been the same as to Colorado had the jury been properly instructed.  Accordingly, we affirm the convictions of Jose Trevino and Garcia–Solis, but we vacate the conviction of Colorado.

Since we vacate Colorado’s conviction because the jury was improperly and harmfully instructed, we need not and do not address his challenges to the sentence and to the money judgment.
Eusevio Huitron's conviction vacated
Eusevio Huitron Conviction Reversed

No evidence that Huitron was “intimately involved with many aspects of [Los Zetas’] finances,” or that he formed shell entities to protect the identity of the true owners.

Therefore we reverse the conviction of Eusevio Huitron. 

Chivis is happy with the Huitron decision (not so much with Pancho's) and thinks it is correct.  Eusevio was only found to have trained the  horses.  A humble man, uneducated, with special needs, who simply loved horses and was a talented trainer.


Eusevio’s brother Jesus was acquitted at the trial, the jury arrived at a not guilty verdict.

27 comments:

  1. Perfect for readers who are curious to know why narcos will sell their soul to avoid extradition. This fool will get twenty-years. Los juez federal de EUA get excited over just a few things and this is one of them.
    Bye-bye Pendejo.

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    Replies
    1. You're the pendejo. He was sentenced to five years for the bribery attempt. Read some news. The US can be a very good place to get tried if you have money. Ask OJ. Money talks in American "justice" while BS walks (to jail).

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    2. ...and drug trafficking, oil for weapons property of the USA illegal war experts get presidential pardons, even for murdering kiki camarena after kidnapping and torturing him for days...
      -- the DEA agents denouncing the CIA and felix ismael rodriguez and challenging them to sue, can't do much else because of government cover-up and presidential pardons...
      -- now the zetas will be let go, slowly, one by one, just the mas pendejo will be holding the shittiest end of the stick...

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    3. He is going to be re-arrested. OJ is enjoying a life of luxury I know. Freshly painted bars, and the side of the cellblock that only reaches 111F in the summer. I do not finance murderers in Mexito pendejo. Obviously your interests lie elsewhere...

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  2. HA!! I tip my hat off to Pancho Colorado for not only winning but for predicting he was going to WIN. Someone buy Pancho a drink if you see in a restaurant

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    Replies
    1. Yeah, yesterday's beer...
      Fuck the panocho colorado, I hope he got done in prison already, por puto...

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  3. So he is innocent of money laundering but he has a million dollars to try to bribe a judge? I guess the appeals judge took the bribe. Im so sick of these scumbags breathing my air!

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    Replies
    1. Milking PEMEX for more than 12 years must have produced billions of dollars for the associates, including zetas, government and associates like the Colorado cessa, and the gratitude of the american courts...

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  4. Hey You got to give it to him!

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  5. I am sure Pancho would have paid with a headless body had he not done everything he could to bribe the judge.

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  6. What the damn F***?????????
    U.S. is as bad a s Mexico. People in mexico saying 'see just like mexico nothing different'

    No justice

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 8:51am please shut up!! The US and Mexican court systems are night and day apart. This crime is white collared crime not violent a crime so what's the big. At least the mistake was corrected. Unlike Mexico where Dr. Mireles is still incarcerated on trumped up charges. Or where mass murderers get less than 10 years for their crimes. RCQ....Does that ring a bell? The best thing out of this deal is the defendants was and will be deported back to Mexico where they belong.

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    2. 10:29 Rafael caro quintero's manager never got convicted...forgetaboutit...
      FELIX ISMAEL RODRIGUEZ, got presidential pardoned even if he was not indicted, so stop promoting the night and day difference between mexican and US legal systems, both are full of shit, cover ups, and cater to the needs of the well off...
      The main difference is one collects lots of dollars for its prostitute services, the other collects pesos, and sovereign impunity from the master of corruption...
      The US can keep their puppet colorado cessa, he does not belong to mexico...

      Delete
  7. They did not say he was innocent, they said what was presented and how it was presented was in error.

    read the decision...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Chivis, you are talking to latinos who take Spanish in high school and fail. You need to break in down potato head language for these mensos, they're probably in front of a computer listening to corridos, eating a tostada de frijoles while they baby sit their little brothers. Saludos...

      Delete
    2. Pretentious Americans always "assume" they know "Latino" characteristics, with that logic every white guy chews tabaco and can't dance even if his life depended on it.

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    3. More black and white fail to get an education in english, in their own country, than mexicans fail...
      --Education on the US has been eroded by the private education services that aim to privatize the government's education budget, they corrupt students, finance gangs and guns until they get their way, anywhere US, Corporate Welfare Queens, just doing what they do...

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  8. An error in the instructions to the jury, does not constitute Colorado's innocence. For those who know who he is, he's a opportunistic and corrupt business man...

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  9. Pancho going hone in five years

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    Replies
    1. no, if the appeal is the end of it, then he only has 5 years for bribe attempt, and he has served apx 3, so I would think that would go towards his 5 years, because the sentence was vacated..

      so looking like 2 years unless he gets the good time and it will be 1 year

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    2. Wow do they ever do hard ass time in US.1 of my tenants got busted for trafficking a small amount of cocaine and he plead guilty and got 2 years-he will do 8 months with good behaviour.Usually here in Canada[I know we are so 'bleeding heart liberal']1/ 3rd of the sentence is served so 30 years you will be out in less than 10years.Just costs too much and don't have enough jails but we are not privatized like I gather the US sounds like is.

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    3. Cannadianna, just what kind of people you associate with?

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  10. Chivita r tetaz still the most powerful hellbeasts? Or is it sinaloas? Cjnj? I'd really love an answer from u madam.

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  11. Eusevio sure got lucky. Eusevio's dream. Can you imagine losing everything in your life just because you trained horses for the bad people? Let that be a lesson to everyone. Be very careful who you associate with.

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  12. Panocho colorado got caught conspiring to play golf with the judge, his son and his partner got caught with the millions of dollars to pay for the judge's game...they got judged for that, on top of their other charges, not for 'wrong instructions', maybe some other all too human american judge is dictaminating what is wrong or right because he IS "playing golf", and nobody better say anything about it, forgettaboutit...

    ReplyDelete

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