Seven members of the Partido Revolucionario Mexicano (PRM) prison gang will be seeing a lot of jail walls for the foreseeable future after being sentenced to a combined 137 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas. The sentences, coming down from Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses in Del Rio, closed the latest chapter on a cocaine trafficking conspiracy that operated in and around Eagle Pass and Del Rio. The U.S. Attorney's Office stated these seven individuals trafficked the illicit drug daily between March 2019 and June 2021.
According to court documents, these defendants weren’t small-time players. Victor Hinojosa, also known as Zuko, 35; Martha Gonzalez Ritchie, 64; Jesus Espinoza, 33; Francisco Espinoza, 29; Ernesto Magdaleno, 56; Armando Ramirez, nicknamed Mando, 36; and Danny Suarez, 41, all hailed from Eagle Pass and had their hands deep in cocaine distribution. Hinojosa, a sergeant of the PRM, and his associates were snared in an investigation that included multiple controlled purchases by Drug Enforcement Administration agents.
On June 5, Judge Moses handed down sentences that were far from lenient: Hinojosa and Ritchie each received 30 years, Jesus Espinoza got 17 ½ years, and Francisco Espinoza was given 19 ½ years. The following week, the courtroom saw Magdaleno and Ramirez each sentenced to 14 years, while Suarez got a 12-year stint. These substantial sentences reflect the seriousness the federal court places on narcotics distribution and its interconnected crimes.
U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons, representing the Western District of Texas, emphasized the underlying threat of such networks. “This criminal conspiracy extends way beyond the bounds of narcotics distribution,” Simmons said. “RM is a violent prison gang that operates on both sides the U.S.-Mexico border. These PRM members who have been convicted and sentenced should reemphasize to other narcoterrorists the level of our resolve when it comes to the eradication of transnational criminal organizations and providing safer border communities,” he stated in the announcement.
The crackdown on the PRM members is part of a broader federal initiative, Operation Take Back America. This nationwide strategy pulls together full resources from the Department of Justice, including efforts and resources of the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN), focusing on combating illegal immigration, dismantling cartels, and protecting communities from violent crime. With multiple agencies such as the DEA and FBI leading 'Operation Tequila Sunset' that snagged these defendants, the message appears clear: the grip is tightening on transnational criminal organizations operating within and along the U.S. borders.
