Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced today that OSCAR VALDEZ-GARCIA, a/k/a “Pony,” an assassin for La Organización de Narcotraficantes Unidos (“La ONU”), was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jesse M. Furman to 40 years in prison. VALDEZ-GARCIA previously pled guilty to participating in a racketeering conspiracy, participating in a narcotics conspiracy, and participating in conspiracies to murder three people in aid of racketeering.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Oscar Valdez-Garcia murdered three people on behalf of a brutal drug cartel. His killings were depraved and despicable. In one instance, Valdez-Garcia and another gunman shot their victim, a double-amputee who was sitting in his wheelchair, 24 times in front of the victim’s daughter. Today Oscar Valdez-Garcia was rightly sentenced to 40 years in prison for his horrific crimes.”
According to the Indictment, other filings in this case, and statements during court proceedings:
VALDEZ-GARCIA was a member and enforcer of La ONU, a criminal enterprise involved in the distribution of thousands of kilograms of cocaine, including cocaine that was sent from Puerto Rico to New York. Cocaine supplied by La ONU was distributed in New York City, including out of a daycare center in the Bronx, New York. Members and associates of La ONU also engaged in acts of violence, including murder, to protect and expand the enterprise’s criminal operations and in connection with rivalries with other criminal organizations.
As an assassin for La ONU, VALDEZ-GARCIA participated in the murder of at least three people in 2006. Those murders involved heinous and brazen acts of violence. Specifically:
On June 23, 2006, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, VALDEZ-GARCIA shot and killed Ken Gonzalez-Rodriguez and Jean Adorno-Caballero on the orders of a senior member of La ONU because of the victims’ involvement in a drug robbery. On the day of the murders, VALDEZ-GARCIA asked the victims if they could give him a ride and he climbed into the backseat of their car. VALDEZ-GARCIA then asked to pull the car over and shot the victims four times each. VALDEZ-GARCIA then fled the scene and put the gun in a nearby trash can. The victims tried to flee to safety after being shot in the car, but soon collapsed and were left on the road and sidewalk to die.
On December 28, 2006, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, VALDEZ-GARCIA and another gunman shot and killed Israel Crespo-Cotto on the orders of a senior member of La ONU, because Crespo-Cotto and his wife were suspected of cooperating with federal authorities. Crespo-Cotto, a double amputee who lost both his legs to diabetes, was killed in front of his daughter while sitting in his wheelchair on his balcony. He was shot 24 times.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Furman sentenced VALDEZ-GARCIA, 40, of Puerto Rico, to three years of supervised release.
Mr. Williams praised the investigative work of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the New York City Police Department. Mr. Williams also thanked the United States Attorney’s Office in the District of Puerto Rico and the Puerto Rico Police Department for their support in this ongoing investigation.
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