Oscar Alonso Escajeda-Candelaria, known as "La Gata (the cat)," pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess and distribute more than a ton of marijuana and more than 11 pounds of cocaine.U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone sentenced Escajeda-Candelaria after he admitted smuggling about 3,000 pounds of marijuana a month into the U.S. from 2002 to 2005."Escajeda was a significant leader within a Mexican drug trafficking organization, responsible for the importation and subsequent distribution of thousands of pounds of marijuana into the United States. Today justice was served," said Carmen Coutino, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in El Paso.The U.S. attorney's staff said Escajeda-Candelaria, 38, also admitted that he was involved in the standoff on the Rio Grande, a case that made international news and led to a congressional hearing because of allegations that the Mexican army was involved.Hudspeth County sheriff's deputies and armed men dressed as Mexican soldiers faced off Jan. 23, 2006, over a drug-loaded vehicle that got stuck in the Rio Grande. The drugs were unloaded and taken into Mexico, and the vehicle was set on fire. No shots were fired.Part of the standoff was videotaped and was the topic of a House Homeland Security subcommittee
hearing in Washington, D.C. The Mexican government, which turned over Escajeda-Candelaria to U.S. authorities in 2009, has denied the military was involved.
Escajeda-Candelaria is suspected of being a high-ranking member of the Escajeda drug family, which reportedly controls the smuggling corridor along the river east of El Paso.He is the brother of the reputed ringleader Jose Rodolfo "El Rikin" Escajeda, who was captured by Mexican authorities in 2009 and suspected in the deaths of anti-crime activist Benjamin LeBaron and LeBaron's brother-in-law Luis Carlos Whitman Galeana, in Chihuahua.LeBaron, a dual U.S.-Mexico citizen, was killed after the birth of a community protest movement that called for the release of LeBaron's kidnapped brother, Eric, military officials said.Mexican newspapers have reported that Jose Rodolfo Escajeda may also be behind the shooting that killed 18 men in a Juárez drug rehab center in 2009.Officials said the arrest of Jose Rodolfo Escajeda struck a heavy blow against the Juárez drug cartel, which has been entangled in a bloody war with the Sinaloa drug cartel over the drug trafficking routes in the El Paso area.
