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Christopher Duran stands on Jan. 23 while being addressed by District Judge Gonzalo Garcia in the 210th District Court.
Adriana M. Chávez

A 21-year-old man accused of participating in the 2009 cartel-related slaying of an East El Paso man pleaded guilty to murder on Thursday, three months after he asked to withdraw his original guilty plea.

Christopher Duran was sentenced to 20 years in prison by 210th District Court Judge Gonzalo Garcia. He will be eligible for parole after serving 10 years, and will be credited for time served.

He has been jailed since his arrest four years ago, about two months after the May 15, 2009, shooting death of José Daniel González-Galeana, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement informant and high-ranking Juárez drug cartel member. González was killed outside of his home on Pony Trail Place on the East Side.

Duran is the last defendant in the case to have pleaded guilty. Last month, Ruben Rodriguez-Dorado, 34, the mastermind behind the slaying, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to life in prison -- avoiding a possible death penalty.

Another co-defendant, former Army soldier Michael Jackson Apodaca, reached a tentative plea agreement with state prosecutors in exchange for testifying truthfully against his co-defendants. If prosecutors determine Apodaca complied with the agreement, they will recommend he be sentenced to life in prison with parole.

Apodaca, who admitted shooting González-Galeana, testified against a fourth co-defendant, Juan Gerardo Gracia Jr., during his trial in February. Jurors acquitted Gracia, who was 16 at the time of the slaying, of capital murder.



González-Galeana's slaying is often cited by local law enforcement as an example of cartel violence spillover since the drug wars in Juárez erupted in 2008.

Both Rodriguez-Dorado and González-Galeana were members of the Juárez drug cartel and both worked as informants for ICE. The two shared the same "handler," ICE agent Pete Loera.

Duran had originally pleaded guilty to a murder charge in January, but after Gracia was acquitted, Duran told Garcia he wanted to withdraw his guilty plea because he was "innocent," and only pleaded guilty because he didn't want to face life in prison.

During Gracia's trial, Apodaca testified the reason for the slaying was that González-Galeana had become a government informant, owed the cartel money and might have killed people in Juárez. Apodaca didn't elaborate on whom Gonzalez-Galeana might have killed.

Apodaca also testified that the plot to kill González-Galeana was hashed out with Gracia and Rodriguez-Dorado at a friend's home on Val Verde Street in Central El Paso.

He told jurors he was surprised when Duran also showed up at the home on the night of the slaying because Duran hadn't been involved in any planning beforehand.

Apodaca told jurors Duran drove Apodaca away from the scene after Apodaca shot González-Galeana eight times at close range.
