{"id":4900,"date":"2025-03-25T15:27:46","date_gmt":"2025-03-25T15:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/a-timeline-of-angel-del-villars-legal-saga\/"},"modified":"2025-03-25T15:27:46","modified_gmt":"2025-03-25T15:27:46","slug":"a-timeline-of-angel-del-villars-legal-saga","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/a-timeline-of-angel-del-villars-legal-saga\/","title":{"rendered":"A Timeline of \u00c1ngel del Villar’s Legal Saga"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n\t\u00c1ngel del Villar<\/strong>\u2018s criminal trial case could set a precedent in Latin music. The CEO of regional Mexican powerhouse label, Del Records, is accused of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels.<\/p>\n

\n\tDel Villar\u2019s ongoing trial began on March 18 at a downtown Los Angeles federal courtroom and follows a\u00a02022 criminal complaint\u00a0that charged Del Villar, among other defendants, with conspiring to violate the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.\u00a0Passed in 1999, the Kingpin Act allows the U.S. to impose targeted sanctions on foreign individuals involved in the illegal drug trade and ban U.S. residents from doing business with them.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn their opening statements, Del Villar\u2019s lawyers argued that the West Coast-based executive had been \u201cmanipulated\u201d by a former Del Records employee who \u201cconvinced\u201d him that what the company was doing was \u201clegally acceptable,\u201d according to reporting by Rolling Stone<\/a><\/em>. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThere is something deeply wrong and manipulative about how this case was created and investigated,\u201d Del Villar\u2019s defense lawyer Marissa Goldberg<\/strong> said. \u201cThe ones who actually created this crime, who manufactured it, are not sitting as defendants, which is even more deeply wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tA key moment during the trial so far was when corridos star Gerardo Ortiz took the stand on March 19 to testify against Del Villar. Ortiz had already pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of doing business with the concert promoter, Jesus \u201cChucho\u201d P\u00e9rez Alvear, linked to the case. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe U.S. Treasury Department\u00a0added Perez to the sanctions list<\/a>\u00a0in 2018, claiming he and his company had helped cartels \u201cexploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.\u201d Ortiz \u2014 previously signed to Del Records and managed by Del Villar \u2014 testified that he had performed at Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, Mexico in April 2018, promoted by P\u00e9rez Alvear, even after he had already been designated under the Kingpin Act, which is why he had also been charged in the case.<\/p>\n

\n\tDel Villar founded Del Records in 2008 and the label has since fueled the m\u00fasica mexicana movement. If convicted of violating the law, Del Villar would face a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Below, a timeline of Del Villar\u2019s legal saga:<\/p>\n