Judge declares a mistrial in case against alleged drug cartel hit man in south Texas

Mistrial declared in alleged cartel hit man’s case

SAN ANTONIO — A federal judge declared a mistrial Thursday in the case of an alleged drug cartel hit man after a jury in the Texas-Mexico border town of Laredo acquitted him on a gun charge and deadlocked on other charges.

Prosecutors had accused Gerardo Castillo Chavez, also known as “Cachetes” or “Cheeks” in Spanish, of being a member of the Mexican Gulf Cartel’s hit squads that killed and kidnapped people in Laredo in 2005 and 2006.

But U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez declared the mistrial after jury members said they were unable to reach an unanimous verdict on conspiracy and drug charges. She ordered a new trial to begin Feb. 19.

“The case brought a lot of publicity. The courthouse was surrounded by armed guards with machine guns, and there was a lot of pressure to convict. But this jury, they focused on the evidence in the case,” said Roberto Balli, Castillo’s attorney. “We feel that they can bring this case back to 20 juries and the result is going to be same.”

He said his client was delighted with the outcome and they would look at their options, including possibly requesting a venue change because of publicity surrounding the case.

Authorities have said the cherub-faced 23-year-old was a midlevel thug working for drug cartel hit squads, but the rare public airing of the charges against Chavez offered a glimpse into the cartel’s U.S. operations.

While authorities have indicted dozens of alleged cartel operatives along the U.S. border, most cases have ended with plea agreements before any testimony that would offer details or confirm suspicions about the cross-border operations that have turned Mexican border communities into drug battlegrounds and raised fears in their U.S. sister cities.

U.S. Attorney Tim Johnson said in a statement Thursday that his office was disappointed but respected the jury’s decision.

“We stand ready to retry this case,” he said.

Castillo, who was initially indicted under the name “Armando Garcia,” was the only one of 16 defendants indicted in the alleged conspiracy to take his case to trial. The others reached plea agreements.

During the 8-day trial, details of the Gulf Cartel’s operations in Laredo and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, emerged through the testimony of confessed hit men and recordings made by law enforcement of hit squad leaders planning assassinations and bragging about kills in the area in 2005 and 2006.

Despite heavy evidence of drug trafficking and hit squads, only two witnesses tied Castillo to the cartel, and both were confessed hit men who had reached plea agreements with prosecutors, Balli said.

Rosalio Reta, who admitted killing about 30 people on the orders of Gulf Cartel bosses, testified that Castillo had bragged about being part of a hit squad that pumped 100 bullets into a pickup truck driven by Jesus Maria “Chuy” Resendez, killing Resendez and his 15-year-old nephew in April 2006.

A surveillance photo taken following a grenade attack on a nightclub in Monterrey, Mexico, appeared to show Castillo with Reta, but Castillo’s sister testified that the man in photo was not her brother.