Brother of late Mexican cartel leader is sentenced to 22 years in prison
for drug trafficking plot
[November 14, 2026]
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN
WASHINGTON (AP) — A man whose brother led one of Mexico’s most violent
drug cartels was sentenced Friday to more than 22 years in U.S. prison
for his part in a sprawling drug trafficking conspiracy that brought
cocaine and methamphetamine to American streets.
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, brother of the late Jalisco New Generation
co-founder known as El Mencho, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking
charges in July after the Mexican government handed him over to U.S.
authorities last year alongside other high-ranking cartel leaders.
His case is part of a broader Trump administration effort to crack down
on powerful cartels such as Jalisco New Generation, also known as CJNG,
that have helped fuel America's drug epidemic.
“Oseguera Cervantes’ sentence sends a clear message to criminals around
the world that the Department of Justice is committed to the total
elimination of drug cartels and transnational criminal organizations,
including the CJNG," Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva, who leads
the department's Criminal Division, said in an emailed statement.
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, 68, of Michoacán, Mexico, worked for cartels
with his brother Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known
as El Mencho, who was killed by the Mexican army in February, according
to federal prosecutors.
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes was a leader of the Milenio Cartel and later
reported directly to his brother after El Mencho became the CJNG’s top
leader, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors in Washington's federal court had recommended a 30-year
prison sentence, noting that his duties included receiving CJNG drug
proceeds, managing the cartel's money laundering activities and
supervising meth laboratories.
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“Rival cartels rarely settle disputes through diplomacy alone,"
prosecutors wrote in court papers. “And while there may be no
nonviolent drug cartels in Mexico, (Oseguera Cervantes) was a member
of particularly brutal cartels."
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes' lawyers requested a 20-year prison
sentence, saying in court documents that he accepts full
responsibility for his crimes and had already spent several years
behind bars in Mexico for essentially the same conduct to which he
pleaded guilty in the U.S.
Defense attorney Frank Perez said in an email Friday that the
sentence was “appropriate, just, and fair under the circumstances.”
Antonio Oseguera Cervantes expressed remorse in a letter addressed
to the court, saying he is “deeply sorry for my actions and for the
harm they caused.”
“One of my greatest fears is that I will die far away from my
family," he wrote. "I love my children and my family very much, and
I hope that I may one day have the opportunity to spend the
remaining years of my life with them.”
___
Associated Press reporter Alanna Durkin Richer contributed from
Washington.
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