Sinaloa Cartel Hitman and El Chapo’s Head of Security, El Cholo Ivan, Extradited to US on Drug Trafficking and Firearm Charges #ElCholoIvan

Last weekend, Jorge Ivan Gastelum Avila, 42, of Mexico, aka Cholo Ivan, was extradited to the United States and made his initial appearance in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to face international drug trafficking and firearms charges. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Nogales, assisted by the FBI’s Washington field office, are investigating the case.

According to court documents, between August 2009 and January 2016, Gastelum Avila was a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa Cartel, an international drug trafficking organization that was headed by Joaquin Guzman Loera, aka El Chapo, and Ismael Zambada Garcia, aka El Mayo. The Sinaloa Cartel is a violent, transnational drug trafficking organization based in Mexico that is known to be engaged in the manufacture, distribution, and importation of ton quantities of cocaine and marijuana from Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and Honduras to Mexico and into the United States.

Court documents also allege that at the time of his arrest, Gastelum Avila was a lead assassin for the Sinaloa Cartel and worked closely with Guzman Loera. He allegedly operated as the “plaza boss” for the Mexican city of Guamúchil, Sinaloa, and in that role, he supervised at least 200 armed men and controlled the drug-trafficking activities in that city and the surrounding area.

In January 2016, Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila and Guzman Loera together in Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico, as they attempted to flee arrest. In December 2018, a grand jury returned an indictment against Gastelum Avila. The United States requested his provisional arrest in February 2020 and Mexican authorities arrested Gastelum Avila based on that request in March 2020. Gastelum Avila remained detained in Mexico pending his extradition. He was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. on April 1.

Gastelum Avila is charged with conspiracy to manufacture and distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine and over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana intending and knowing that those substances would be imported into the United States. He is also charged with knowingly and intentionally using, carrying, brandishing and discharging a firearm, including a destructive device, during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Gastelum Avila faces a maximum penalty of life in prison for the drug conspiracy charge and a mandatory consecutive sentence of 30 years for the firearms offense. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Guzman Loera was extradited to the United States in January 2017. In July 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison for being a principal leader of a continuing criminal enterprise, narcotics trafficking, using a firearm in furtherance of his drug crimes and participating in a money laundering conspiracy.

This case is supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.

Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, acting Executive Associate Director Steve K. Francis of HSI, Assistant Director Luis Quesada of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division and Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg of the FBI Washington field office made the announcement.

Trial Attorney Kirk Handrich of the Criminal Division’s Narcotic and Dangerous Drug Section is prosecuting the case. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance with securing the arrest and extradition of Gastelum Avila. The Criminal Division’s Office of Enforcement Operations also provided significant assistance.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

HSI is the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), responsible for investigating transnational crime and threats, specifically those criminal organizations that exploit the global infrastructure through which international trade, travel, and finance move. HSI’s workforce of more than 8,700 employees consists of more than 6,000 special agents assigned to 237 cities throughout the United States, and 93 overseas locations in 56 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.

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Gangbuster: One Man's Battle Against Crime, Corruption, and the Klan

As gripping as it is prescient, Gangbuster: One Man's Battle Against Crime, Corruption, and the Klan, is the first-ever history of the battle waged by one rookie District Attorney, Philip Van Cise, against the KKK, organized crime, and government corruption at the highest levels throughout the 1920s. One century later, in the face of contemporary society’s divisiveness and fearmongering politics, the personal courage of this maverick’s battle against underworld figures and a mainstream white supremacist movement is more relevant and inspiring than ever.

At the height of the roaring 1920s, the ex-frontier town of Denver, Colorado, emerged from the postwar boom as the future of the American city. But the slick façade of progress and opportunity masked a murky stew of organized crime, elaborate swindles, and widespread government corruption. One man risked everything to alter the course of history.

Rookie district attorney Philip Van Cise was already making national headlines for a new brand of law enforcement. Employing military intelligence tools he’d developed during the Great War—wiretapping, undercover operatives, communication intercepts—Van Cise crippled the criminal empire of Lou Blonger, an ex-lawman who had risen from petty scam artist to master of the Big Con. But Van Cise had even darker, more malevolent forces on his radar.

The Ku Klux Klan had emerged as a shockingly mainstream middle-class movement, employing anti-immigration scare tactics, encouraging vigilantism, and instigating culture wars, all while claiming to protect true American values. Van Cise saw the toxic ideology for what it was: a new version of the Big Con sold as populism. Utilizing his pioneering surveillance techniques, Van Cise was determined to expose the Invisible Empire from within.

Gripping and exhaustively researched, this prescient chronicle of Philip Van Cise’s spectacular career as a feared gangbuster taking on organized crime, the KKK, and corruption at the highest levels of government is a cautionary tale that mirrors our tumultuous times

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Nick Calabrese, Chicago Mob Hitman who Turned Government Witness has Died #FamilySecrets

Nick Calabrese

Former Chicago mob hitman Nicholas Calabrese has died, a source said Monday.

A source confirmed to CBS 2's John Drummond that Calabrese had died. Calabrese was 80.

Calabrese was infamous as a top assassin for the Mafia in Chicago. Among the 14 murders in which Calabrese told federal prosecutors he took part were those of brothers Tony "the Ant" and Mike Spilotro. Tony Spilotro was the Chicago mob's man in Las Vegas and the inspiration for Joe Pesci's character in the 1995 movie "Casino."

Calabrese later became known for turning on his brother, Frank Calabrese Sr., in the Operation Family Secrets probe that took down several prominent organized crime figures.

Frank Calabrese Sr. was known as a brutal loan shark. During the Operation Family Secrets mob trial in 2008, he was charged with 13 murders.

During that trial, Nick Calabrese gave graphic details about how his brother strangled his victims and then slit their throats.

Frank Calabrese Sr. was convicted of seven murders and, two years later, was sentenced to life in prison. Frank Calabrese Sr. died in prison in 2012.

In addition to Frank Calabrese Sr., fellow Outfit figures James Marcello, Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo, Paul "The Indian" Schiro, and Anthony "Twan" Doyle were the main defendants at the trial, and were convicted on conspiracy and racketeering charges. A jury also found Frank Calabrese Sr., Marcello, and Lombardo responsible for 18 murders in all.

Meanwhile, Nick Calabrese was sentenced to 12 years and four months in prison in 2009 for the 14 murders to which he admitted.

Nick Calabrese was most recently said to be in the federal witness protection program.

Thanks to CBS Chicago.

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R. Kelly Sentenced to 20 Years in Prison

R. Kelly sentenced to 20 years in Prison

Recording artist “R. Kelly,” was sentenced by Judge Harry D. Leinenweber to 20 years in federal prison, with one year to run consecutive to the 30-year sentence previously imposed in the Eastern District of New York.

On September 14, 2022 after a four-week trial a federal jury in Chicago convicted Kelly on three counts of producing child pornography and three counts of enticing a minor to engage in sexual activity. The trial revealed that Kelly enticed multiple underage girls to engage in sexual activity, and that he continued to abuse his victims for years, at times recording some of the abuse on videotape. Kelly met the victims in the late 1990s and engaged in sex acts with them beginning when they were as young as 14, 15, and 16 years old.

On multiple occasions over several years Kelly took steps to cover up his abuse and silence his victims.

“With today’s sentence, a sexual predator is being held accountable for the years of abuse he inflicted on minor victims,” said U.S. Attorney John R. Lausch. “Kelly used his celebrity and wealth to attract and victimize young girls, and to obstruct prior criminal proceedings intended to end his despicable conduct. We commend the courage and the strength of the victims who came forward in this case to expose Kelly’s crimes. Our office will never cease seeking justice for victims of child sexual abuse, and the public can take comfort knowing that Kelly will never again be in a position to exploit young girls.”

“Robert Kelly used his power and fame for evil when he exploited children for his own gratification,” said Sean Fitzgerald, special agent in charge of HSI Chicago. “We are confident that Kelly’s sentence will empower victims who are facing similar circumstances to come forward knowing they will be supported. HSI, alongside its partners from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the Chicago Police Department, and IRS Criminal Investigation, will do everything in our power to ensure perpetrators like Kelly face justice.”

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U.S. Department of State Announces Reward for Information Leading to Arrest and/or Conviction of Mara Salvatrucha Leader #MS13 #Porky #MostWanted

The U.S. State Department is announcing a reward offer of up to $5 million for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of Yulan Adonay Archaga Carías, also known as “Porky” or Alex Mendoza, for conspiring to participate in or attempting to participate in transnational organized crime. This announcement complements a U.S. Department of Justice criminal indictment, which charged Archaga Carías in 2021 with conspiracy to violate the racketeering laws of the United Sttes, conspiracy to import cocaine into the United States, and possession of a machine gun in relation to a drug-trafficking crime.

Archaga Carías is the highest-ranking member of Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS-13) in Honduras and is responsible for directing the gang’s criminal activities including drug trafficking, money laundering, murder, kidnappings, and other violent crimes. Archaga Carías is also responsible for the gang’s importation of large amounts of cocaine into the United States.

This announcement is an element of a comprehensive effort in conjunction with the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctions against Archaga Carías. Archaga Carías is a most-wanted fugitive by the FBI, DEA, and DHS Homeland Security Investigations.

The United States supports the efforts of law enforcement partners in Honduras seeking justice against violent MS-13 gang members like Archaga Carías. 

Any information in response to the reward offer should be directed to U.S. law enforcement investigators at +1-202-451-8122 or +504 8886-7166 (phone/text/WhatsApp/ Telegram/Signal).

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