San Diego cartel associate sentenced

San Diego cartel associate/lieutenant sentenced

Referred to as an 'underboss', in the complaint against him, Mario Escamilla, aka 'Unico', answered directly to Armando Villareal Herdia, 'Gordo', who presumably answered directly to Fernando Sanchez Arellano, 'El Ingeniero', the heir of the Arellano Felix dynasty.

31 year old Escamilla was sentenced quietly nearly 3 years after his arrest during Operation Luz Verde, a Cross Border Task Force, OCDETF multiple agency investigation.  One of the primary defendants in an indictment under RICO naming 43 persons, his sentence is the harshest yet.  District judge William Hayes handed down a sentence of 35 years, following Escamilla's January 2012 guilty plea to RICO conspiracy and drug trafficking charges, he won't be released until he is in his late sixties.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EABxRdh6pqg

Revolucion Nortena 'El Unico'

Most of Escamilla's immediate family were also indicted in 'Luz Verde', including his sister, two brothers, and father, who presumably faces charges in Mexico.  From Palm Avenue in Imperial Beach, blocks from where Armando and Arturo Villareal began their careers in the CAF, Revolucion Nortena, likely at his direction made a 2010 corrido, detailing 'El Unico', and his rise to power.  

His sentencing memorandum, by Assistant US Attorney Todd Robinson detailed Escamilla's involvement in three conspiracies to murder wayward and disobedient members of his organization, for 'frivolous reasons....including the theft of (relatively) small amounts of marijuana and 'disrespecting' senior leadership.  “Escamilla confirmed through his conduct in this case that he has no qualms about committing murder, no matter how trivial the justification is for doing so".  

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2012/05/life-crime-in-san-diego.html

http://www.borderlandbeat.com/2012/09/caf-associate-sentenced-in-san-diego.html

Sources: San Diego Fox 5 News, US Justice News Release