A cartel-connected human smuggler will spend 20 years in prison for the ransom kidnapping of a Texas teen at the hands of the Gulf Cartel in the border city of Reynosa, Tamaulipas.
Sixto Gonzalez Jr. went before Chief U.S. District Judge Randy Crane, who sentenced him to 20 years in prison for the charge of hostage-taking. Gonzalez, a previously convicted human smuggler with known ties to the Gulf Cartel, had pleaded guilty to the charge in May 2023.
According to court documents and information released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, on June 19, 2021, the smuggler lured a 19-year-old teenage male from Alamo, Texas, to go with him to the Mexican city of Reynosa for a job opportunity. When the two got to a house in that city, other men were waiting for them and tied up the victim before beating him. The men demanded $5,000 and a weapon in exchange for his release.
As a way to pressure the victim’s family, the suspects sent a video of them using a wooden board to strike the victim in the buttocks area. Known as a “tabliza” or paddling, the practice is a common torture method used by the Gulf Cartel in Tamaulipas. In the video, the men used the board to repeatedly beat the victim until it broke.
At the time, FBI agents worked with Tamaulipas state authorities, who were able to locate the house where the cartel gunmen had the victim and rescue him. At the time of the rescue, authorities claimed the victim was restrained with zip ties and had multiple bruises.
Court records revealed that while in federal custody, on May 17, 2022, Gonzalez and two other men tried to bribe a correctional officer at the East Hidalgo Detention Center.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.