CHICAGO (AP) - A Mexican national who smuggled drugs into the U.S. for two cartels has been sentenced to 27 years in prison by a federal judge in Chicago.
The U.S. attorney’s office said in a statement Thursday that Judge Ronald Guzman sentenced 48-year-old Manuel Fernandez-Valencia on Wednesday. Mexican authorities arrested Fernandez-Valencia in 2010 and he pleaded guilty in the U.S. last year to one conspiracy count.
Fernandez-Valencia admitted he used planes, ships, submarines and other means to smuggle drugs into the country for the Beltran-Leyva Organization and Sinaloa Cartel, which authorities say was headed by Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman.
Prosecutors made their case against Fernandez-Valencia with the help of twins Pedro and Margarito Flores, who ran a lucrative Chicago drug network. They are each serving 14-year prison sentences.
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