Francisco Colorado Jr., 26, and Ramon Segura Flores, 52, had hoped to ensure a reduced sentence for Francisco Colorado Cessa, who was convicted in a complex scheme to launder millions of dollars of drug profits through the breeding, training, and racing of horses, the Austin American-Statesman reports.
In addition to Colorado Cessa, 10 other defendants were convicted in the scheme, including José Treviño Morales, who is the brother of Los Zetas leaders Miguel Treviño Morales and Omar Treviño Morales, according to the US Attorney of the Western District of Texas. Miguel Treviño Morales was captured by Mexican authorities last July.
After receiving a tip from an informant, federal agents monitored calls that Colorado Cessa, who is Colorado Jr.’s father and Segura’s business partner, made from jail where he discussed the plan with the others, according to Borderland Beat.
Colorado Jr. and Segura were arrested last September, the Austin-American Statesman reported. They pleaded guilty in March and were sentenced on Tuesday. Prior to the plea bargain, they had been facing terms of up to five years in prison.
Court documents posted by Borderland Beat describe meetings between the two men and undercover law enforcement agents and their plans to bribe a judge with approximately $1 million. The judge, US District Judge Sam Sparks, did not know about the scheme, the Statesman reports.
Colorado Cessa is serving 20 years in prison for the money laundering case, and is expected to be sentenced to additional time after pleading guilty in the bribery case, Borderland Beat reports. According to attorneys for Colorado Jr. and Segura, both men will be deported.
“I declare myself guilty of the charge because I am guilty,” Segura said in Spanish. “I just want to return home to support my family and be a good father, husband and son.”
