Last of 3 defendants sentenced to 2 life sentences for his role in North Texas murder in May 2013

FORT WORTH, Texas — The last of three defendants convicted for their respective roles in the May 2013 murder of man in North Texas, was sentenced Tuesday to two life sentences in federal prison, to be run concurrently.

This sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas. This investigation was led by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration, with assistance from the following agencies: Southlake Police Department; US. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Texas Department of Public Safety; Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office; Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office; Fort Worth Police Department; and Grapevine Police Department.

Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, aka “Chuy” and “Juan Ramos,” 60, was convicted at trial in May 2016 on one count of interstate stalking and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. 

Last week, co-defendant Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, 60, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means to serve two life sentences plus 240 months to run concurrently.  He was convicted at the May 2016 trial on one count of interstate stalking, one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire, and one count of tampering with documents or proceedings.

Ledezma-Cepeda’s son, co-defendant Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano, 33, was sentenced in August 2016 to 240 months in federal prison. He pleaded guilty earlier this year to one count of interstate stalking and testified for the government at trial.

All three defendants are Mexican citizens; Cepeda-Cortes was legally in the U.S.

“The sentences in this case reflect the horrific and heinous nature of the defendants’ crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Parker.  “These three men methodically hunted down their intended victim through several states, in and out of Mexico, and over several months for the sole purpose of facilitating his execution.  On the day of the murder, once they ensured the gunman knew the victim’s location, Ledezma-Cepeda and Ledezma-Campano stood callously by while the victim was shot multiple times in broad daylight, with the victim’s wife and dozens of shoppers nearby.”

“The successful investigation and prosecution of this violent crime is an example of the great relationship between the Southlake Police Department and our federal partners,” said Southlake Police Chief James Brandon.  “Our residents and the residents of North Texas should take comfort in the fact that we will utilize every resource at our disposal to bring criminals to justice.”

“The sentencing of this defendant, as well as the other two defendants in this sophisticated organization, demonstrates the partnership between local, state, and federal law enforcement,” said the DEA Dallas Field Division’s Special Agent in Charge Clyde E. Shelley Jr.  “We will not tolerate cartel violence in our community, and we will fight until justice is served for the victims of such heinous crimes.”

On May 22, 2013, at 6:47 p.m., Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa was ambushed and shot multiple times with a 9mm pistol while seated in his Range Rover that was parked at Southlake Town Square in Southlake, Texas.  A Toyota Sequoia pulled up behind the Range Rover, a gunman got out of that vehicle, walked up to the Range Rover, and fired several times through the window at Guerrero Chapa, who died at the scene.  Nearby, Guerrero Chapa’s wife was not harmed.

According to evidence presented at trial and documents filed in the case, from about March 1, 2011, until May 22, 2013, the three defendants traveled in interstate and foreign commerce from Mexico to Southlake, and elsewhere, with the intent to kill, injure, harass and intimidate Guerrero Chapa, and as a result of that travel, Guerrero Chapa was killed.  In addition, from about May 23, 2013, until Sept. 5, 2014, Cepeda-Cortes took steps to destroy evidence on his computer related to this investigation.

The defendants were acting on orders from a man in Mexico, Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, aka “El Gato,” or “the Cat,” who wanted Guerrero Chapa killed as revenge for his father’s murder. Over the course of the conspiracy, Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cortes received money from Ledezma-Cepeda to pay for their expenses. Ledezma-Cepeda was paid by “El Gato.”

Ledezma-Cepeda asked his son, Ledezma-Campano, to assist in the search. Ledezma-Campano used his skill with electronic devices to assist in the search, and he created email accounts for Ledezma-Cepeda and “El Gato” to communicate with each other.

The defendants exchanged information via email to locate Guerrero Chapa – exchanging personal information about Guerrero Chapa and his family as well as information regarding vehicles associated with them and photographs of the Guerrero Chapa residence in Southlake.

The defendants used various means to locate and track Guerrero Chapa and members of his family.  Cepeda-Cortes purchased surveillance cameras that were placed in various locations in Guerrero Chapa’s neighborhood.  In addition, while in the area, the defendants purchased and rented several vehicles that allowed them to frequently change vehicles and use non-descript rental vehicles to avoid detection by Guerrero Chapa and his family.  They placed automobile tracking devices not only on their own vehicles, but on vehicles owned and operated by Guerrero Chapa and his relatives, including the Range Rover Guerrero Chapa was in when he was murdered.

After the defendants located Guerrero Chapa, “El Gato” sent two assassins from Mexico to Southlake to kill him.  Ledezma-Campano met the two, whom he identified as “Clorox” and “Captain,” and concluded they were sent to kill Guerrero Chapa.  One of the men was, in fact, the gunman who killed the victim on May 22, 2013, and the other drove the Toyota Sequoia. 

On the day of the murder, Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda followed the victim around Southlake, and that afternoon, while the victim’s Range Rover was parked in a Walmart parking lot, Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda switched the tracking device on the Range Rover.

At about 6 p.m. on May 22, 2013, Guerrero Chapa and his wife drove to Southlake Town Square.  Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda, who had been parked near Guerrero Chapa’s home, followed them.  Guerrero Chapa parked in his regular parking spot near a yogurt store, and Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda parked directly across from them and used binoculars to watch them. 

As they waited, Ledezma-Cepeda was in regular contact, via Blackberry Messenger, with “El Gato.”  Ledezma-Campano saw “Clorox” and “Captain” drive by in a Toyota Sequoia.  Ledezma-Campano went into a coffee shop in the Town Square and while inside he heard a commotion outside.  He returned to Ledezma-Cepeda who told him “they shot him.”

Ledezma-Campano and Ledezma-Cepeda waited several minutes as law enforcement responded before leaving the scene.  “El Gato” told both of them to stop using the tracking device they carried in their vehicle. The next morning, they returned the rental car and drove directly into Mexico, along the way destroying the phones they had used.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua Burgess and Aisha Saleem, Northern District of Texas, are prosecuting this case.