A reputed Sinaloa drug cartel member convicted of coordinating the deadly abduction of a Horizon City man was sentenced Wednesday to 24 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Thursday.

Francisco Javier Pulido, 34, alias "El Pichas," was convicted in U.S. District Court in El Paso for his role in the kidnapping of reputed drug dealer Sergio Saucedo from his home in Horizon City on Sept. 3, 2009.

Pulido pleaded guilty in October to one count of conspiracy to kill, kidnap or injure in a foreign country. Pulido also was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.

Days after his kidnapping, Saucedo was found tortured and killed in Juárez with his severed hands left on his chest as a sign that he was considered a thief, law enforcement officials had said.

Saucedo was blamed for the loss of 670 pounds of marijuana seized at the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint in Sierra Blanca, according to past court testimony and documents.

During a detention hearing in May, FBI and Border Patrol agents testified that Pulido had allegedly supervised marijuana smuggling by backpackers who crossed the border in the Fabens area and also helped smuggle AK-47 rifles bought in the U.S. into Mexico.

An FBI agent testified that a witness had told the FBI that Pulido allegedly claimed that he was paid $1,000 by reputed cartel lieutenant "El Ingeniero" (the engineer) Gabino Salas Valenciano to coordinate Saucedo's kidnapping.

Salas Valenciano was killed in a shootout with the Mexican army in the Valley of Juárez in 2013.

After being abducted, Saucedo was taken to Pulido's home in Fabens and then to Mexico, an agent testified. Pulido also was accused of providing a pickup used to transport Saucedo to Mexico.

In December 2013, Pulido was named in a highly publicized list of alleged drug cartel members who had been arrested or had been killed by Mexican security forces. In April 2016, the FBI arrested Pulido after he was extradited from Mexico.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said that four other people have been convicted in connection with Saucedo's kidnapping with sentences ranging from eight years to life in federal prison.


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