{"id":4959,"date":"2025-03-28T03:49:56","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T03:49:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/angel-del-villar-found-guilty-in-trial-verdict-over-drug-cartel-ties\/"},"modified":"2025-03-28T03:49:56","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T03:49:56","slug":"angel-del-villar-found-guilty-in-trial-verdict-over-drug-cartel-ties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/angel-del-villar-found-guilty-in-trial-verdict-over-drug-cartel-ties\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00c1ngel del Villar Found Guilty in Trial Verdict Over Drug Cartel Ties"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

\n\tL<\/span>atin music executive Angel Del Villar<\/strong> was convicted by a federal jury Thursday (March 27) on felony charges of doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels, setting the stage for a potential decades-long prison sentence.<\/p>\n

\n\tJurors found the Del Records CEO guilty on 10 counts of violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, a federal law that bars U.S. residents from doing business with known drug traffickers, as well as one conspiracy charge, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Los Angeles told Billboard <\/em>on Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors alleged that Del Villar repeatedly arranged concerts with Jesus P\u00e9rez Alvear<\/strong>, a Guadalajara-based promoter who allegedly had ties to Mexican cartels. At trial this week, regional Mexican superstar Gerardo Ortiz took the stand to testify against Del Villar, saying he had seen P\u00e9rez Alvear at the Del Records offices and had himself performed at one of the promoter\u2019s concerts.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs reported by Rolling Stone<\/em><\/a>, attorneys for Del Villar argued during opening statements last week that he had been \u201cmanipulated\u201d into working with P\u00e9rez Alvear by a \u201ctrusted\u201d former employee named Brian Gutierrez<\/strong>, who they say assured him that it was legal. They argued that Gutierrez was a paid informant for the FBI who had helped the feds \u201cmanufacture a gotcha situation\u201d to \u201ctake down\u201d Del Villar.<\/p>\n

\n\tAfter eight days of trial, those defense arguments clearly did not sway the jury, which handed down guilty verdicts against both Del Villar and his Del Entertainment Inc. Following the verdict, Del Villar will face sentencing in August; under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act, he could face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison, though he could also receive far less than that.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn a statement to Billboard<\/em>, Del Villar\u2019s attorneys Drew Findling, Marissa Goldberg and Zack Kelehear vowed to file an appeal: \u201cWe respect the verdict that was given today, but, we strongly disagree and are disappointed by that verdict. This is one of those times that the criminal justice system got it wrong. This case was unique and unprecedented and it is clear that this complexity unfortunately was misunderstood. The fight continues forward in the Court, there will be a prompt appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his own statement, Gutierrez\u2019s attorney Paul K. Schrieffer stressed that the jury had rejected the defense argument pinning the blame on his client: \u201cThe truth is that Mr. Gutierrez is an honest person with a distinguished record who saw something illegal occurring at his work, blew the whistle on it, was fired, and then had his reputation damaged by the defendants\u2019 lawyers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFounded by Del Villar in 2008, Del Records later grew into a top record company for regional Mexican music. The label was home to m\u00fasica mexicana supergroup Eslabon Armado, whose global hit, \u201cElla Baila Sola\u201d with Peso Pluma, became one of the biggest songs of 2023, as well as Lenin Ramirez and other chart-topping artists.<\/p>\n

\n\tBut in June 2022, Del Villar, 41, CFO Luca Scalisi<\/strong>, 56, and Del Records itself were all charged with conspiring to violate the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act. Passed in 1999, the law 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\tThe U.S. Treasury Department added P\u00e9rez Alvear to the sanctions list in 2018, claiming he and his company, Gallistica Diamante, had helped cartels \u201cexploit the Mexican music industry to launder drug proceeds and glorify their criminal activities.\u201d According to court records, he has since died.<\/p>\n

\n\tProsecutors said Del Villar and Scalisi used P\u00e9rez Alvear to arrange four Mexican concerts for an undisclosed Del Records artist, then accepted nearly $200,000 in payments from him, all while aware that he had been sanctioned. Charging documents cite a never-sent Del Records press release acknowledging that status, as well as private messages in which Scalisi noted that P\u00e9rez Alvear was \u201cunder homeland security watch\u201d and Del Villar was directly told that P\u00e9rez Alvear was \u201ca sanctioned US person.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFollowing this month\u2019s trial for Del Villar, Scalisi will face his own jury trial in July on similar charges.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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