A federal jury condemned the director general of Del Records on Thursday, a label based in Bell Gardens which produces Latin music, of conspiracy in order to violate a federal law which prohibits residents and American companies from doing business with known drug traffickers and their associates.
After a nine -day trial, Ángel Del Villar, 44, and his talent agency, Del Entertainment, were recognized as guilty of a conspiracy chief to do business with sanctioned persons related to drug trafficking, in violation of the Law on the Ning
The lawyers of Ángel Del Villar, general manager of DEL Records, tried to criticize a former employee for the label.
(Ella Hovsepian / Getty Images)
The Chingon Act prohibits anyone in the United States from concluding agreements or transactions with persons or companies sanctioned by the Treasury Department.
Federal authorities arrested and charged with Del Villar in 2022.
In April 2018, Del Villar and the talent agency dealt with Jesús Pérez Alvear, alias “Chucho”, a music promoter based in Guadalajara who had been sanctioned by the Treasury Department, according to proofs presented at the trial.
Treasury officials said at the time that Pérez had whitewashed money for the Cartel of Jalisco Nueva Generacion and a related traffic group, Los Cuinis.
Pérez was accused of having concluded the benefits of traffickers with legitimate income from ticket sales and refreshment. He also promoted singers from Narcocorridos, ballads that “glorify” traffickers and their crimes, said treasury officials.
Pérez had previously pleaded guilty of conspiracy to do business with sanctioned persons related to drug trafficking. He promoted concerts for Del Entertainment in Mexico until March 2019. He was murdered in Mexico in December 2024.
During the trial – which presented testimonies from Gerardo Ortiz, a popular singer of regional Mexican music – Del Villar lawyers tried to reject the blame on a former employee of DEL Records, Brian Guérrez.
One of Del Villar’s lawyers, Marissa Goldberg, said in her declaration of opening that the case was focused on “displaced confidence” and “manipulation”.
Goldberg accused Gutiérrez of working with the government “to make a Gotcha situation to eliminate someone whom he perceived as being at the top”.
Paul K. Schrieffer, a Guérrez lawyer, rejected this in a statement sent by e-mail, noting that the jury rejected the argument that Gutiérrez had done something wrong.
“The truth is that Mr. Gutierrez is an honest person with a distinguished file who saw something illegal happening in his work, whistled, then was damaged,” said Schrieffer.
In a statement sent by email, Dellar’s legal team said it was strongly disagreed with the verdict and planned to appeal.
“This is one of those moments when the criminal justice system was wrong,” the statement said. “This affair was unique and unprecedented and it is clear that this complexity was unfortunately misunderstood.
“On the personal level, Mr. Del Villar loves his wife, children and his circle incredibly very family and friends who have provided unwavering support.”
According to the office of the American lawyer, Del Villar and Del Entertainment deliberately did business with Pérez “by continuing to have a musical artist of Del Entertainment play during concerts in which Pérez and Del Entertainment had a financial interest”.
“The accused here chose to embark on business with a person they knew had links with the CJNG and had been appointed a drug trafficker under the Pinsons Act”, acting in us. Joseph McNally said. “Cartels and transnational criminal organizations cause immeasurable damage to our country. We use all the tools to eliminate these organizations and continue those who do business with cartels. ”
During the trial, Goldberg told the jury that his client, an immigrant from Mexico, had “fulfilled the American dream”. She said he had a passion for Mexican regional music, the music of his childhood, and started her label two decades ago.
The problem, according to the authorities, started in 2018.
Ortiz, one of the LED Records artists, was to perform during a concert organized by Pérez in the state of Aguascalientes, in Mexico, when the promoter was sanctioned, the special agent of the FBI, Lauren Radke, wrote in an affidavit deposited in court.
Dellar employees wrote a press release at the time, declaring that the company had “no choice” to “respect American law and allow reservations of any of my shows to individuals that the Treasury Department was deemed sanctioned”.
The press release was never distributed, but the agents used a search warrant to obtain the project a year later, Radke wrote. This press release came several times throughout the trial.
Radke and other agents met Ortiz at a Phoenix airport, where they gave the singer a letter from the Treasury department and told him that it was forbidden to do business with Pérez.
Later in the day, the Del Records financial director Luca Scalisi left a vocal message with an employee of the record company. Scalisi said Del Villar wanted the financial director to go to Mexico to recover a debt that Pérez owed to a Mexican company affiliated to Del Villar, Radke wrote.
Scalisi said he was concerned about the creation of a “paper path” leading to Pérez because the concert promoter was “under surveillance,” wrote Radke.
Authorities also charged Scalisi, 58, to have violated the Kingpins Act. He pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled for July.
Ortiz finally played during the concert that Perez organized in Aguascalientes, Radke wrote. DEL Villar’s credit card was used to pay a private jet that transported Ortiz from Van Nuys airport to Aguascalientes, according to the American prosecutor’s office.
On several other occasions in 2018 and 2019, the authorities said that Pérez and Del Villar continued to do business by organizing Ortiz to perform during concerts in Mexico.
The singer of “Para Qué Lastimarme” admitted to the court that he had played at the Feria de San Marcos 2018 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, despite his knowledge of the status of Pérez, according to Indivision.
Ortiz, which was signed under Del Records from 2009 to 2019, has already pleaded guilty to accusations of conspiracy linked to the case.
Del Villar is expected to be sentenced on August 15 and risks up to 30 years in prison at each charge. Del Entertainment will be sentenced to a sentence of five years of probation and a fine of $ 10 million for each charge.
The staff of Times Matthew Ormseth and Carlos de Loera contributed to this report.
California Daily Newspapers
