An El Paso man tied to a notorious transnational crime ring admitted to his role in a brutal kidnapping that left one dead, as per federal court statements. Armando Leonardo Moreno, 21, also known as Cholo, pleaded guilty to charges of kidnapping ending in a grisly murder after abducting a victim from a local stash house in September 2021.
Details from court documents reveal a harrowing scenario where Moreno and his gang cohorts forcibly snatched the victim, taking him to a secondary location where they unleashed a savage beating both outside and within the premises, the victim, discovered days later in Las Cruces, New Mexico showed signs of a violent end with multiple gunshot and stab wounds—pointing to a torture-filled conclusion to his life. Moreno, now facing life imprisonment, awaits his fate to be decided by a federal district court judge, who will weigh in on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other relevant factors, detailed the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas.
Several of Moreno's accomplices have already faced the scales of justice; Michelle Karen Avila received a 10-year sentence while Ruben Pimentel got 188 months behind bars, their grim fates highlighting the relentless efforts of Joint Task Force Alpha (JTFA) to curb the terror spread by human smuggling rings. Alberto Rodriguez and Ricardo Matthew Gutierrez, also complicit in the syndicate's crimes remain in custody, bracing for sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza announced the grim yet triumphant news with Homeland Security Investigations, the El Paso Police Department, New Mexico State Police, and the Texas Department of Public Safety have led the investigation, their coordination underpinning the JTFA's hunt for justice in a landscape marred by human smuggling and associated violence, the task force since its inception has racked up over 270 arrests including kingpins and crucial operatives of these clandestine operations; over 210 convictions; stiff jail sentences; and the seizure of ill-gotten assets as proclaimed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
