A Washington, D.C. court has sentenced Jessica Oseguera, daughter of drug kingpin Nemesio “El Mencho” Oseguera, to two years and six months in prison for crimes carried out on behalf of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG).
Oseguera, 34, was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. She has already served 16 months and could walk free in the summer of 2022.
Oseguera pleaded guilty in March to five charges of willfully engaging in financial transactions with businesses on the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) blacklist, businesses linked to the CJNG and considered to be “specially designated narcotics traffickers.”
U.S. prosecutors had asked for a sentence of more than four years while the defense requested that Oseguera be released on parole, based on time already served.
Before her sentencing, Oseguera read a statement expressing remorse and saying that her time in prison had been an opportunity to reflect on her mistakes.
“This has been a big life lesson for me. Being locked up during a pandemic has been very difficult. For more than a year, I have been alone 23 hours a day,” Oseguera said.
Defense lawyer Steven McCool had previously argued that Oseguera’s income as stated by the prosecution was incorrect and said she was an “excellent mother,” and that being away from her family had been difficult.
However, prosecutor Brett Reynolds said the accused had lied about prior illegal activities. He said there was proof that she had provided accounting services to her father’s cartel. He added that her father had put Oseguera in charge of running Las Flores Cabañas, a luxury spa in Jalisco. Oseguera said she had not seen her father since she was 11.
The defense asked for a reduced sentence but the judge said the case was special due to the relationship with the CJNG, and reminded the defense that Oseguera had once entered the U.S. carrying $10,000 in cash.
The court chose the intermediate sentence of two and half years, citing Oseguera’s lack of prior convictions and that she had demonstrated remorse for her actions.
With reports from Milenio
