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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Gangbangers Put Away for a Long Time

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas (CN) - A gang leader was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for crimes he committed with an "illegal cell phone" from his state prison cell, and another gang member got 27 years, prosecutors said.

Sentencing of Karlos Bouchot, 35, came after he and 13 other gang members were indicted in April 2011 for violent crimes in aid of racketeering, conspiracy to possess and distribute methamphetamine and firearm violations, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement.

The violent crimes in aid of racketeering charge, called a VICAR charge, came from a violent home invasion, and two nightclub shootings gang members pulled off in Corpus Christi, prosecutors said.

"Bouchot pleaded guilty to a VICAR count which alleged he and other Raza Unida members conspired to kill another gang member, known as 'Casper,' for stealing Raza Unida drug money. Bouchot was an inmate in the Texas prison system at the time of the offenses and contributed to the conspiracies by use of an illegal cell phone," prosecutors said in the statement.

Sentenced with Bouchot were Jose Manuel Ledezma, 24, of Brownsville, and Valerie Botello, 28, of Corpus Christi.

"Ledezma, described as an associate of Raza Unida, attempted to broker a deal involving more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine [and] will be serving 324 months [27 years] in prison. Botello, determined to be a minimal participant in the methamphetamine conspiracy, received a 17-month prison term," prosecutors said.

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