El Mencho's Brother Gets 22.5 Years for Drug and Gun Crimes

Antonio Oseguera Cervantes, 67, will spend 22.5 years in federal prison for his role in a drug trafficking and firearms conspiracy. The Justice Department announced the sentence on Friday after the defendant pleaded guilty to multiple charges earlier this year.

Cervantes, known by the alias Tony Montana, worked in the drug trade alongside his brother Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes. The older brother, known as El Mencho, co-founded and led the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación, or CJNG. Mexican army forces killed El Mencho in February of this year.

In July, Antonio Cervantes admitted to conspiring to import at least five kilograms of cocaine and 500 grams of methamphetamine into the United States. He also pleaded guilty to using and possessing a firearm to further that drug conspiracy.

The Trump administration designated the CJNG as a foreign terrorist organization last year. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general for the Criminal Division, addressed the sentencing in a statement. "For more than two decades, Antonio Oseguera Cervantes helped fuel one of the world's most dangerous drug trafficking organizations, flooding America's communities with deadly drugs while enriching himself and his associates," Duva said.

The sentencing concludes the federal case against Cervantes for these specific counts. He joins his late brother in the history of one of the most prominent drug trafficking groups operating out of Mexico.