MCALLEN, TEXAS (AP) -- A federal jury in South Texas has convicted an alleged hit man for a Mexican drug cartel in his second trial on racketeering, conspiracy and weapons charges.
Gerardo Castillo Chavez was found guilty Wednesday in Laredo, about two years after jurors deadlocked on similar counts in his first trial.
Castillo -- also known as "Cachetes," or Cheeks -- was the first of 34 defendants named in the 51-page indictment to go on trial. Many others have pleaded guilty.
Prosecutors alleged Castillo was part of a larger drug-trafficking conspiracy run by the Gulf drug cartel and the Zetas terror squad.
Court records show the conspiracy's primary objective was moving cocaine and marijuana from Mexico into Laredo and on to Dallas.
(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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