Adriana M. Chávez

Jurors convicted an alleged Barrio Azteca gang lieutenant Friday of ordering the killings of three people tied to the U.S. Consulate in Juárez nearly four years ago.

Arturo Gallegos Castrellon, known as "El Farmero," "El Benny," "51" and "86," was convicted of federal racketeering, murder, conspiracy and other charges in connection with the slayings of three people — Consulate employee Lesley Enriquez Redelfs; her husband, Arthur Redelfs, an El Paso County sheriff's detention officer; and Jorge Salcido Ceniceros, whose wife also worked at the Consulate.

The three were killed March 13, 2010, in a street shooting after leaving a children's party in Juárez. The attacks have been attributed to the Barrio Azteca.

Mexican officials have alleged Gallegos also ordered the attack in which 15 students were killed at a birthday party in Villas de Salvarcar in January 2010; the killing of five Mexican federal police officers; a car bombing on July 15, 2010, in Juárez that killed a federal policeman and a paramedic and injured a Juárez television news cameraman; and the deaths of the wife and stepdaughter of Azteca gang member Jesus Ernesto "Camello" Chavez Castillo.

Gallegos is also accused of ordering the kidnapping of Chavez Castillo's parents. The slayings and kidnappings took place after Chavez Castillo began cooperating with federal prosecutors and agents in the U.S.


As U.S. District Judge Kathleen Cardone read the jury's verdict Friday, Castrellon frowned and looked down briefly but showed no other emotion.

Reuben Redelfs, the brother of Arthur Redelfs, was in the courtroom for the verdict but left without commenting to reporters.

Cardone scheduled Gallegos' sentencing for 9:30 a.m. April 24. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

It took jurors two hours to reach the verdict. Gallegos' lawyer, Randolph Ortega, said he was disappointed with the verdict and was surprised jurors returned fairly quickly, considering the court's charge was 100 pages long.

"This was a difficult case. There was a lot of evidence against my client," Ortega said. "We anticipate a sentence of life."

Before closing arguments Friday, two deputy U.S. marshals led a clean-shaven Gallegos, who wore a black suit, white shirt and yellow tie, into the courtroom. Gallegos smiled and waved to his father and sister in the courtroom.

Federal prosecutors argued that Gallegos was rising through the ranks of the Barrio Azteca when a quota of eight murders a day was set in 2009.

Within eight months, about 800 people were killed in Juárez.

Prosecutors also told jurors Gallegos joined the Barrio Azteca in the late 1990s while incarcerated at the La Tuna federal prison in Anthony, Texas, but not much is known about him from 2000 to 2006 when he began attending "church," or Barrio Azteca meetings, about every 15 days.

Gallegos also was heavily involved in trafficking marijuana, heroin and cocaine into the U.S., and creating the alliance between the Barrio Azteca and the Juárez drug cartel, also known as "La Linea," prosecutors said. Most of his communication with Barrio Azteca soldiers was conducted over two-way radios. Gallegos' radio, which was numbered 51, went silent after his arrest, prosecutors told jurors.

Ortega argued that Gallegos is not a member of the Barrio Azteca and has never had the nickname "Benny." Ortega also argued that prosecutors relied on statements made by Gallegos' former co-defendants, who identified Gallegos' voice on recorded wiretaps.

Those former co-defendants, including Chavez Castillo, have been paid thousands of dollars by the U.S. government and offered legal U.S. residency in return for their testimony, Ortega said in court.

"Their witnesses claimed they hadn't seen my client in years. I submit to you they've never seen my client," Ortega argued.

Ortega pointed out in his closing argument that prosecutors never offered any records of Gallegos' previous incarcerations as evidence, nor did they hire an expert voice analyst to determine whether Gallegos' voice could be heard on the wiretaps.

"Benny is a voice. Benny is a ghost. If you've been paid, Benny can be anyone you want him to be," Ortega said.

Adriana M. Chávez may be reached at 546-6117.