Latest news with #CaroQuintero
Yahoo
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mexican druglord Caro Quintero seeks to sack defense lawyer whose judge dad prosecuted him
Notorious Mexican cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero wants to get rid of a member of his defense team — a lawyer whose dad is the federal judge who ordered the seizure of the druglord's real estate in Mexico. Caro Quintero, the so-called 'Narco of Narcos' who the feds say orchestrated the 1985 torture and murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was represented by court-appointed attorney Michael Vitaliano after he was hauled to Brooklyn and arraigned Feb. 28. Prosecutors this month flagged a potential conflict of interest involving Vitaliano. Though the government hasn't publicly disclosed the nature of the conflict, Vitaliano is the son of longtime Brooklyn Federal Judge Eric Vitaliano, who in 2021 ordered the seizure of five of the drug kingpin's properties in Mexico. A Mexican court upheld the order in what prosecutors referred to as a 'landmark ruling' in 2022. 'Mr. Caro Quintero acknowledged his awareness of the potential conflict of interest posed by the continued representation of him by Mr. Vitaliano, and does not wish to waive the potential conflict of interest existing here and desires to proceed without the services of Mr. Vitaliano,' Donald Duboulay, another member of his legal defense team, wrote to Brooklyn Federal Judge Frederic Block on Monday. A spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney John Durham declined to comment, as did Michael Vitaliano when contacted Tuesday. Cara Quintero is accused of masterminding the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena, which was depicted in the Netflix series 'Narcos,' and was one of the founding members of the notorious Guadalajara cartel, the predecessor of the Sinaloa cartel. Caro Quintero, who at one point topped the FBI's list of most wanted fugitives, was arrested in Mexico in a dramatic 2022 capture. He and 28 other cartel figures were expelled from Mexico in February, in what's been viewed as a show of cooperation from Mexican officials to stave off the Trump administration's ever-changing tariff threats. Federal prosecutors have said the Justice Department is weighing whether to seek the death penalty, and Block formally assigned veteran defense lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio as Caro Quintero's 'learned counsel' — meaning she'll represent him in any death penalty-related proceedings.
Fox News
10-04-2025
- Fox News
Mexican drug lord convicted in killing of DEA agent Enrique ‘Kiki' Camarena is freed
A Mexican drug lord was released from custody after being convicted in the 1985 killing of Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena. Ernesto "Don Neto" Fonseca Carrillo, one of the co-founders of the Guadalajara Cartel, was freed last weekend after completing his 40-year sentence, a federal agent confirmed to the Associated Press. Fonseca, 94, had been serving the remainder of his sentence under home confinement outside Mexico City since being moved from prison in 2016. The DEA did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday from Fox News Digital. Rafael Caro Quintero, another Guadalajara Cartel co-founder who also was convicted in the murder, was one of 29 cartel figures Mexico sent to the United States in February. It's unclear if the U.S. is now looking to bring Fonseca into custody. At the time of his murder, the DEA and Camarena had been utilizing a series of wiretaps to make sizeable drug busts inside Mexico. In February 1985, as Camarena left to meet his wife for lunch outside the U.S. consulate in Guadalajara, he was surrounded by officers from the DFS, a Mexican intelligence agency that no longer exists. "Back in the middle 1980s, the DFS, their main role was to protect the drug lords," former DEA agent Hector Berrellez, who led the investigation into Camarena's murder, told Fox News in 2013. The DFS agents then took Camarena, blindfolded and held at gunpoint, to one of Caro Quintero's haciendas nearby. For more than 30 hours, Caro-Quintero and others interrogated Camarena and crushed his skull, jaw, nose and cheekbones with a tire iron. They broke his ribs, drilled a hole in his head and tortured him with a cattle prod. As Camarena lay dying, Caro-Quintero ordered a cartel doctor to keep the U.S. agent alive. The 37-year-old's body was found dumped on a nearby ranch about a month later. In 2013, Caro Quintero walked free after serving 28 years in prison. He was released after a court overturned his 40-year sentence for the kidnapping and killing of Camarena. Caro Quintero was arrested again by Mexican forces in July 2022 after he allegedly returned to drug trafficking.
CBS News
27-03-2025
- CBS News
Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, charged with killing DEA agent, may face death penalty in U.S.
New York — Federal prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty against Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero in a sprawling case that includes the 1985 killing of an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy confirmed that capital punishment remains on the table as a possibility when pressed by a judge hearing the case in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday. The top count Caro Quintero faces - leading a continuing criminal enterprise - carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment, with the possibility of the death penalty, prosecutors have said. "A determination has not been made but it is going through the process," Komatireddy said as dozens of DEA agents packed the courtroom. Judge Frederic Block, in response, tapped a lawyer with experience in federal death penalty cases to serve as special counsel to Caro Quintero. Elizabeth Macedonio appeared alongside the 72-year-old former drug kingpin in court Wednesday. She previously represented the late Vincent Asaro, the New York mobster acquitted in the notorious 1978 Lufthansa Airlines heist at John F. Kennedy Airport that was dramatized in Martin Scorsese's "Goodfellas." Block also said he would weigh whether it's appropriate for Caro Quintero to continue receiving court-appointed, taxpayer-funded legal representation as his family hasn't hired their own lawyer. He asked representatives for Caro Quintero to complete financial disclosure forms and for prosecutors to help the court review them. Block set the next court date for June 25. Caro Quintero, who has pleaded not guilty to a range of drug-related charges, didn't speak in court and his lawyers didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. He appeared alongside his codefendant, Ismael Quintero Arellanes, his nephew and former top lieutenant. Linda George, Quintero Arellanes' lawyer, told the judge her client continues to discuss a possible plea deal in his case, which involves his alleged role relaying messages and orders between Caro Quintero and members of the drug operation - as well as helping him avoid capture as his personal bodyguard and head of security. Quintero Arellanes, who was known as "Fierro," is also due back in court June 25. Caro Quintero was among 29 imprisoned cartel figures expelled from Mexico by the country's government in a bid to stave off the Trump administration's planned tariffs on Mexican imports. Long known as one of the FBI's most wanted criminals, he was head of the Guadalajara cartel that eventually joined the syndicate known as the Sinaloa cartel , the largest drug trafficking organization in the world. Prosecutors say Caro Quintero, also known as the "Narco of Narcos," was responsible for channeling tons of heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine into the U.S. over decades. He also orchestrated the torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena , who he blamed for a raid on one of his marijuana plantations. The death was dramatized in the Netflix series "Narcos: Mexico."
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Death penalty possible for Mexican drug lord Caro Quintero, Brooklyn federal prosecutors say
NEW YORK — The death penalty is on the table for notorious drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, the so-called 'narco of narcos' who orchestrated the torture and murder of a DEA agent in 1985, according to federal prosecutors. 'It is a possibility. The decision has not yet been made, but it is going through the process,' Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy said in Brooklyn Federal Court Wednesday. About 30 DEA agents lined the benches to watch Caro Quintero, 72, and Ismael Quintero Arellanes, his cousin and right-hand man, appear before Judge Frederick Block for an update on his case. Caro is accused of masterminding the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Agent Enrique 'Kike' Camarena in 1985, and was one of the founding members of the notorious Guadalajara Cartel, the predecessor of the Sinaloa Cartel. Camarena's killing was depicted in the Netflix series 'Narcos.' Block formally assigned veteran defense lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio as Caro Quintero's 'learned counsel' — meaning she'll represent him in any death penalty-related proceedings. The decision to seek the death penalty falls to U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi. Macedonio won an acquittal in 2015 for Bonanno crime family member Vincent Asaro, after he was put on trial for his alleged involvement in the infamous 1978 Lufthansa heist at Kennedy Airport depicted in Martin Scorsese's 'Goodfellas.' The drug lord is currently also represented by court-appointed defense lawyer Michael Vitaliano, and he expects to apply for taxpayer-funded counsel for the duration of his defense. Block said he'd have to see what prosecutors say about his assets before making a decision on whether taxpayers will foot the bill for his trial defense. 'I don't know whether the government's tied up his assets. I don't know what's available, what's not available,' he said. Caro Quintero, who at one point topped the FBI's list of most wanted fugitives, was arrested in Mexico in a dramatic 2022 capture. He and 28 other cartel figures were expelled from Mexico last month. Their expulsion has been viewed as a show of cooperation from Mexican officials to stave off the Trump administration's threats to apply tariffs on Mexican goods. He was hauled to Brooklyn and arraigned Feb. 28 on charges including allegations he led a criminal enterprise, engaged in murder conspiracy, international narcotics distribution conspiracy, and unlawful use of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking. Caro Quintero is locked up in the Special Administrative Measures, or SAMS unit of the MDC Brooklyn, which houses high-risk inmates who the feds worry might pass deadly instructions to their cohorts in the outside world. He's slated to return to court June 25. _____
Yahoo
26-03-2025
- Yahoo
Mexican drug lord charged with killing DEA agent could face death penalty
NEW YORK (AP) — Federal prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty against Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero in a sprawling case that includes the 1985 killing of an agent of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy confirmed that capital punishment remains on the table as a possibility when pressed by a judge hearing the case in Brooklyn federal court Wednesday. The top count Caro Quintero faces — leading a continuing criminal enterprise — carries a mandatory minimum sentence of life imprisonment, with the possibility of the death penalty, prosecutors have said. 'A determination has not been made but it is going through the process,' Komatireddy said as dozens of DEA agents packed the courtroom. Judge Frederic Block, in response, tapped a lawyer with experience in federal death penalty cases to serve as special counsel to Caro Quintero. Elizabeth Macedonio appeared alongside the 72-year-old former drug kingpin in court Wednesday. She previously represented the late Vincent Asaro, the New York mobster acquitted in the notorious 1978 Lufthansa Airlines heist at John F. Kennedy Airport that was dramatized in Martin Scorsese's 'Goodfellas.' Block also said he would weigh whether it's appropriate for Caro Quintero to continue receiving court-appointed, taxpayer-funded legal representation as his family has not hired their own lawyer. He asked representatives for Caro Quintero to complete financial disclosure forms and for prosecutors to help the court review them. Block set the next court date for June 25. Caro Quintero, who has pleaded not guilty to a range of drug-related charges, didn't speak in court and his lawyers didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment. He appeared alongside his codefendant, Ismael Quintero Arellanes, his nephew and former top lieutenant. Linda George, Quintero Arellanes' lawyer, told the judge her client continues to discuss a possible plea deal in his case, which involves his role relaying messages and orders between Caro Quintero and members of the drug operation — as well as helping him avoid capture as his personal bodyguard and head of security. Quintero Arellanes, who was known as 'Fierro,' is also due back in court June 25. Caro Quintero was among 29 imprisoned cartel figures expelled from Mexico by the country's government in a bid to stave off the Trump administration's planned tariffs on Mexican imports. Long known as one of the FBI's most wanted criminals, he was head of the Guadalajara cartel that eventually joined the syndicate known as the Sinaloa cartel, the largest drug trafficking organization in the world. Prosecutors say Caro Quintero, also known as the 'Narco of Narcos,' was responsible for channeling tons of heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and cocaine into the U.S. over decades. He also orchestrated the torture and killing of DEA agent Enrique 'Kiki' Camarena, who he blamed for a raid on one of his marijuana plantations. The death was dramatized in the Netflix series 'Narcos: Mexico.' ___ Follow Philip Marcelo at
