BROWNSVILLE, Texas — The son of the jailed leader of the Gulf Cartel was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for drunkenly waving a gun in a local bar while claiming to be a U.S. Marshal. The suspect at the time was on federal probation for trying to smuggle ammunition into Mexico.
This week, Osiel Cardenas Jr., 26, went before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Rodriguez who sentenced him to 27 months in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $15,000 fine. Cardenas pleaded guilty on May 22 to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of impersonating a federal agent. Cardenas is a U.S. citizen.
The case began on March 14 when authorities arrested Cardenas at a local nightclub, Breitbart Texas reported. Responding police officers found Cardenas next to his vehicle and detained him for public intoxication. During questioning, Cardenas claimed to be a U.S. Marshal and showed a gold badge hung around his neck. The badge was real, but was from the Cameron County District Attorney’s Office. At the time of the arrest, Cardenas carried a Bersa .380 pistol.
Initially, Brownsville police arrested him on state charges, however, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms filed federal weapons charges since Cardenas was a federal felon on supervised release.
In 2015, federal authorities arrested Cardenas as he was trying to cross from Brownsville into Matamoros with ammunition in his vehicle. Cardenas pleaded guilty to that charge and received a 10-month prison sentence followed by three years of supervised release, Breitbart Texas reported.
Cardenas’ father is currently serving a 25-year-prison sentence for his role as the former leader of the Gulf Cartel. The elder Cardenas is also responsible for helping create a group called Los Zetas, which became his personal guard and later splintered into a rival cartel.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and Stephen K. Bannon. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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