A United States citizen whose brother is said to be a high-up drug cartel assassin was sentenced on attempted murder charges in San Diego, Calif. on Friday.
30-year-old Jorge Sillas received at least 21 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to attempted murder, the Associated Press reported. Law enforcement officials said that Sillas participated in a scheme to kill a mother and her son in Southern California who hadn't yet paid a drug debt. Sillas allegedly offered $50,000 to have the duo taken out.
Sillas didn't say much in court on Friday. He apologized for the crimes, while his attorney explained that the client had been influenced by his older brother, Juan, AP reported. Until this brush with the law, Jorge Sillas has kept a clean criminal history.
Sillas was said to be working under orders from the Arellano Felix cartel - one of the most well-established and powerful drug cartel operatives in Mexico. Juan Sillas was largely seen as one of Tijuana's most ruthless assassins prior to his 2011 arrest.
The hit on the Southern California couple was lined up between 2010 and February 2011, before law enforcement performed a raid on Jorge Silla's Palmdale home. Police took two AR-15 rifles, around $20,000 in cash and at least 1,000 rounds of ammunition from the residence.
Sillas, along with defendants Victor Gonzalez and Danny Cepallo, were said to have organized the murder. Gonzalez pleaded guilty to attempted murder, while Cepallo was sentenced to five years in a state facility in June.
U.S. attorneys are currently looking to extradite Sillas from Mexico concerning a separate charge from 2005, when a man in North Dakota was shot nine times in front of two children after a drug deal went south.
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