Defendant’s expert witness calls him a ‘walking dead man’

The attorney for defendant Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda asked their expert witness about the dangers of the Mexican cartels.

“That’s a walking dead man right there,” Gary Fleming said, pointing across the courtroom to Ledezma-Cepeda.

“If he gets acquitted, he dies. If he goes to prison, they’ll kill him there because it’s easier. This guy has no chance.”

Fleming’s testimony began a revealing — and, at times, testy — few hours Tuesday in the federal trial of Ledezma-Cepeda and his cousin, Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, who are accused of stalking and conspiring to kill a Southlake cartel lawyer in 2013.

Later, Cepeda-Cortes’ older sister, Rosa Madrigal, testified, telling the jury that she works as an administrator for the Department of Homeland Security.

After her brother’s arrest, she said, the department investigated a report that she provided her brother with secret information. She was eventually cleared and returned to work, where she started as a typist in 1988.

Cepeda-Cortes’ younger sister, a human resources executive at a small college in Dallas, and two of his daughters also testified.

One of his daughters, a historian at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley in Edinburg, is hoping to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention this summer, she said.

All four women, plus Cepeda-Cortes’ fiance, testified that they noticed nothing out of the ordinary about Cepeda-Cortes’ behavior from fall 2012, when prosecutors say he joined the conspiracy, until his arrest in September 2014.

Both defendants rested their cases Tuesday. The attorneys will convene about jury instructions on Wednesday and make their closing arguments Thursday, U.S. District Judge Terry R. Means said.

Town Square killing

Prosecutors say Cepeda-Cortes, 59, and Ledezma-Cepeda, 59, tracked and stalked Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, who was fatally shot at Southlake Town Square.

Ledezma-Cepeda’s son, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Campano, 32, has already pleaded guilty to the stalking charge and testified against his family members.

Guerrero was the personal lawyer for the now-imprisoned leader of the Gulf cartel, Osiel Cardenas Guillen.

But Cepeda-Cortes’ attorneys have argued that their client knew nothing about the plot to kill Guerrero.

Instead, they say, he thought he was just helping Ledezma-Cepeda with a private investigation, acting as a translator for his Spanish-speaking cousin.

Last week, Ledezma-Cepeda admitted on the stand that he duped Cepeda-Cortes into helping him, telling him that Mexican authorities wanted to find Guerrero because he owed money to banks.

Cepeda-Cortes’ family members corroborated that account on Tuesday.

Investigation ‘apprenticeship’

“My father was helping translate for my uncle,” Miriam Cepeda said. “I saw it as an apprenticeship.”

One of Cepeda-Cortes’ sisters, Sandra McLain, testified that Ledezma-Cepeda told her they were looking for a man who skipped out on a loan.

She said the search for the man was described to her as an “assignment.” She even helped Ledezma-Cepeda look for apartments in the North Texas area, she testified.

Prior evidence showed that the men rented an apartment in Grapevine in spring of 2013.

“Did you know it was for a criminal purpose?” asked Robert Rogers, Cepeda-Cortes’ attorney.

“No,” McLain said.

‘Silver and lead’

Earlier Tuesday, Fleming, a videographer who was designated as an expert in cartels over the objections of the prosecution, explained how “there is no out” once you become involved with the cartels.

Ledezma-Cepeda’s attorneys have argued that the defendant was forced to track Guerrero by El Gato, a “plaza boss” with the Beltran Leyva cartel. El Gato, according to witness testimony, believed Guerrero was responsible for the death of his father.

Fleming testified about how mid-to-high level bosses like El Gato operate to get jobs done.

“Silver and lead: Take our money and work for us, or die,” Fleming said.

In cross-examination, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Burgess questioned Fleming’s credibility. He asked Fleming if he leaked confidential case documents to the media, and he asked about Fleming’s hourly rate of $200 that he’s receiving for working as an expert for the defense.

“Will you get paid for sitting in the courtroom, including the time you were sleeping?” Burgess asked.

“Sure,” Fleming said.

This story was originally published May 10, 2016 at 7:19 PM with the headline "Defendant’s expert witness calls him a ‘walking dead man’."