Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, Interstate Stalking and Conspiracy to Commit Murder for Hire, Texas 2016

Southlake, Texas, May 22, 2013: Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa was gunned down in broad daylight, shot multiple times through the window of his parked Range Rover at Southlake Town Square. A Toyota Sequoia pulled up behind him, a masked gunman stepped out, fired a 9mm pistol into the driver’s side, then vanished. Chapa, 45, died at the scene. His wife stood nearby, unharmed but shattered. The hit was cold, precise, and ordered from afar by a cartel figure known as ‘El Gato.’

This morning, the final defendant in the conspiracy, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda, a/k/a ‘Chuy’ and ‘Juan Ramos,’ 60, was sentenced to two life terms in federal prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means in Fort Worth. Convicted in May 2016 after a trial in the Northern District of Texas, Ledezma-Cepeda was found guilty of one count of interstate stalking and one count of conspiracy to commit murder for hire. The sentences will run concurrently.

He is the last of three co-conspirators to be punished. Last week, Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, 60, also received two life sentences plus 240 months, to run concurrently, after being convicted of interstate stalking, conspiracy to commit murder for hire, and tampering with documents or proceedings. The third defendant, Ledezma-Cepeda’s son, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano, 33, pleaded guilty to interstate stalking and was sentenced in August 2016 to 240 months in prison. He later testified for the government at trial.

All three defendants are Mexican citizens. Cepeda-Cortes was legally in the U.S. at the time of the crime. From March 1, 2011, to May 22, 2013, the trio traveled across state lines and into Mexico, stalking Chapa for months, tracking his movements, and setting the stage for execution. On the day of the murder, Ledezma-Cepeda and Ledezma-Campano stood by as the hired gunman opened fire, witnesses say. The victim’s wife and dozens of shoppers looked on in horror.

“These three men methodically hunted down their intended victim through several states, in and out of Mexico, and over several months for the sole purpose of facilitating his execution,” said U.S. Attorney John Parker. “They showed no remorse. They watched him die.” According to prosecutors, the hit was ordered by Rodolfo Villarreal Hernandez, known as ‘El Gato,’ a figure tied to cartel operations in Mexico, who sought Chapa’s death for reasons not fully disclosed in court.

Law enforcement called the case a landmark in interagency cooperation. “The successful investigation and prosecution of this violent crime is an example of the great relationship between the Southlake Police Department and our federal partners,” said Southlake Police Chief James Brandon. FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge Thomas M. Class, Sr., and DEA Dallas Special Agent in Charge Clyde E. Shelley, Jr., both emphasized the message: cartel violence won’t be tolerated in North Texas. The sentences, they said, reflect the exhaustive work of investigators and the severity of the crime.

RELATED: Jose Luis Cepeda Cortes Gets Double Life for Southlake Murder

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