Two alleged members of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel tried to get into the film business by allegedly trying to steal the script to a prequel of the Passion of the Christ movie.
A 2010 criminal indictment against 45-year-old Mauricio Sanchez Garza and 38-year-old Jorge Vasquez Sanchez charged the two with one count of extortion and one count of money laundering conspiracy, court records obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed.
Sanchez is also facing a second indictment from 2011 for money laundering, tying him to the Sinaloa Cartel. In 2008, the two men conspired to steal by force the manuscript to a movie from the owner and Proud Mary Studios. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the movie was billed as a prequel to the Passion of the Christ.
In 2010, Sanchez fled from U.S. authorities, but was eventually arrested in Mexico. Over the weekend, authorities extradited him to Texas. On Monday, Sanchez went before a judge for his initial hearing.
Vasquez pleaded guilty to the extortion charge and is currently in prison serving a four-year prison sentence. As part of the sentence, Vasquez was forced to forfeit his rights to the movie, 15 percent of the profit from the film.
The second indictment accuses Sanchez, Vasquez and 47-year-old Alejandro Sanchez of working with Mexican cartel members in an effort to launder their drug proceeds. The group would use a series of businesses and joint ventures in an effort to hide the illicit nature of the money, information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office revealed.
Alejandro Sanchez pleaded guilty in 2014 and received a 30-month prison sentence. Court records revealed that prosecutors are looking to seize two commercial properties in San Antonio, an airplane and $5 million.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas you can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
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