NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — The two leaders of a Puerto Rican drug cartel that committed dozens of murders and bribed police officers were convicted at trial on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
Julio Marquez-Alejandro, also known as "Chino," and Luis Blondent were found guilty on charges of racketeering conspiracy, murder in aid of racketeering, murder while engaged in a drug crime, and murder through the use of a firearm.
According to their indictment and trial evidence, Marquez-Alejandro was one of the founding fathers of the La Organization de Narcotraficantes Unidos, or La ONU, a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in, from in or about 2004 to in or about 2016, dozens of murders, the bribery of corrupt police officers in Puerto Rico, and the distribution of thousands of kilograms of cocaine, including the shipment of cocaine from Puerto Rico to New York. Cocaine supplied by the organization was distributed in New York City, including out of a children’s daycare center in the Bronx.
Blondent was a member of La ONU and one of Marquez-Alejandro's closest allies.
According to prosecutors, Blondent murdered Crystal Martinez-Ramirez on or about April 9, 2005, because Martinez-Ramirez refused his advice. He shot her in the head twice and dumped her body on a street corner in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On Dec. 28, 2006, Israel Crespo-Cotto was murdered on the orders of Marquez-Alejandro because Crespo-Cotto was believed to be cooperating with law enforcement. Marquez-Alejandro's assassins fatally shot Crespo-Cotto, a double amputee, 24 times while he was sitting in his wheelchair in the Manuel A. Perez public housing projects in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Officials said on or about March 20, 2009, Carlos Barbosa was murdered on the orders of Marquez-Alejandro because Barbosa was believed to be plotting to seize power from Marquez-Alejandro. The victim was shot over a dozen times while getting his hair cut at a barbershop in Levittown, Puerto Rico.
In addition to these murders, evidence was presented at the trial of Marquez-Alejandro and Blondent for ordering, committing, or otherwise participating in more than a dozen other murders, including:
On or about May 9, 2007, members of La ONU, including Marquez-Alejandro, hired corrupt Puerto Rico police officers to participate in the murder of Anthony Castro-Carrillo in Carolina, Puerto Rico, in exchange for a cash bonus.
The defendants and other members of La ONU arranged for the murder of Hommysan Cariño-Bruno, a leader of a rival drug organization, paying a driver to kill Cariño-Bruno and providing a firearm. Cariño-Bruno was shot and killed while inside a van on or about April 29, 2008, in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
On or about November 27, 2009, Emanuel Correa Romero, also known as "Oreo," was murdered on the orders of Marquez-Alejandro. Members of La ONU beat Correa Romero until he appeared dead. After the assault, members of La ONU placed Correa Romero’s body into a suitcase, and later reported back that they shot the suitcase dozens of times and then lit it on fire.
Marquez-Alejandro, 52, and Blondent, 47, were both convicted of racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.
For Martinez-Ramirez's murder, Blondent was convicted of murder in aid of racketeering, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison and murder through the use of a firearm, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and a maximum sentence of life in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed.
For the murders of Crespo-Cotto and Barbosa, Marquez-Alejandro was convicted of two counts of murder in aid of racketeering, each of which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison; two counts of murder while engaged in a drug crime, each of which carries a mandatory minimum of twenty years in prison and a maximum of life in prison; and two counts of murder through the use of a firearm, each of which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years and maximum sentence of life in prison, which must run consecutively to any other term of imprisonment imposed.
"Yesterday’s verdict brings justice for the more than a dozen victims of the defendants’ years-long campaign of brutal violence. Using murder after murder and bribery of corrupt Puerto Rico police officers, the defendants profited from distributing tons of cocaine throughout Puerto Rico and other places in the United States, including drugs sold out of a children’s daycare center in the Bronx," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
He added, "Thanks to the tremendous work of our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, the defendants’ reign of terror has ended."
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