Kidnapping and Murder of DEA Agent Terry Watson Results in Decades in Prison for 3 Colombian Nationals

Three Colombian nationals were sentenced to decades in prison in the Eastern District of Virginia for their roles in the kidnapping and murder of Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent James “Terry” Watson in Bogotá, Colombia, on June 20, 2013.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Special Agent in Charge George L. Piro of the FBI’s Miami Field Office, DEA Administrator Michele M. Leonhart and Bill A. Miller, Director, U.S. State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service made the announcement.

“Throughout his law enforcement career, Special Agent Watson’s service was both selfless and courageous,” said Attorney General Holder. “With this action, we continue our work to hold accountable those who were responsible for his murder. In the weeks ahead, we expect to take additional steps to bring the perpetrators to justice. And in all that we do, our nation’s Department of Justice will continue to honor Special Agent Watson’s sacrifice, to safeguard the nation he served, and to protect the values and principles he defended all his life.”

“Terry Watson was a courageous and accomplished DEA Special Agent who we will forever honor and remember for his dedicated career and sacrifice,” said DEA Administrator Leonhart. “DEA is grateful that those who carried out this reprehensible and senseless act are now facing U.S. justice. We will honor his life and career by continuing our global crusade with our domestic and international partners to defeat violent drug trafficking networks.”

Héctor Leonardo López, 34, Julio Estiven Gracia Ramírez, 32, and Andrés Álvaro Oviedo García, 22, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and aiding and abetting the murder of an internationally protected person. Today, U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced López to 25 years, Gracia Ramírez to 27 years, and Oviedo García to 20 years.

In addition, Wilson Daniel Peralta-Bocachica, 31, pleaded guilty today to obstruction of justice and Edwin Gerardo Figueroa Sepúlveda, 39, pleaded guilty on Dec. 9, 2014, to conspiracy to kidnap and aiding and abetting the murder of an internationally protected person. Sentencing hearings for Peralta-Bocachica and Figueroa Sepúlveda are scheduled for Feb. 18, 2015.

In the statements of facts filed with their plea agreements, López, Gracia Ramírez, Oviedo García, and Figueroa Sepúlveda admitted that they conspired to conduct “paseo milionarios” or “millionaire’s rides” in which victims were lured into taxi cabs, kidnapped and then robbed. They admitted that on the evening of June 20, 2013, they were part of a robbery crew that targeted Special Agent Watson. Gracia Ramírez picked up Special Agent Watson in his taxi, while López drove a second taxi carrying the assailants. Figueroa Sepúlveda entered the taxi carrying Special Agent Watson and shocked him with a stun gun while another defendant stabbed him. Special Agent Watson was able to escape from the taxi, but he later collapsed and died from his injuries. Oviedo García was part of the robbery crew, but shortly before Special Agent Watson was targeted, a third taxi encountered mechanical issues and Oviedo García stayed with the disabled taxi. Peralta-Bocachica admitted that in the days following the kidnapping and murder, he washed the taxi in which Special Agent Watson was stabbed, removing blood from the back seat then discarding the cleaning rags, before turning the taxi over to the Colombian National Police.

Two other defendants, Omar Fabián Valdes Gualtero, 27, and Édgar Javier Bello Murillo, 27, are charged with second degree murder, kidnapping and conspiracy to kidnap in connection with their alleged involvement in the murder. Trial is set for Jan. 12, 2015.

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Secrets of the Herrin Gangs By Ralph Johnson & Jon Musgrave

Secrets of the Herrin Gangs tells the account of Ralph Johnson, an insider with the Shelton Gang who also worked with Charlie Birger at one time.

Originally published in newspapers across the country at the end of the Gang War during the Bloody Williamson years in January 1927, all 10 segments are compiled now for the first time in one volume.

In addition, Jon Musgrave reveals the mystery of Johnson’s true identity and his life of crime in the second half of the book.

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Disabled Veteran Defends House from Thieves with His .45

Sixty-eight-year-old disabled veteran Joseph Sapienza was at home in Gastonia, N.C. when he heard a suspicious noise at his front door. Sapienza retrieved a .45-caliber pistol, placed it in a holster attached to a walker he uses to get around, and opened the door. There were two masked men on his porch attempting to get inside. Recalling what happened next, Sapienza told a reporter, “When they saw the .45, one ran one way up the street, and the other went the other way.”

Sapienza believes he may have been targeted by the criminals because of his disability.

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Steven Mandell Gets Life in Prison for Sadistic and Depraved Plot to Kidnap, Extort, and Kill Victim in North Side Torture Chamber

A northwest suburban man was sentenced to life in prison for plotting in 2012 to kidnap, torture, extort and murder an innocent victim and then take control of the victim’s real estate holdings. STEVEN MANDELL, 64, formerly known as “Steven Manning,” of Buffalo Grove, was tried in February of this year and convicted of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, extortion conspiracy, attempted extortion, possessing a firearm during a violent crime, being a felon-in-possession of a firearm, and obstruction of justice.

“This was an extremely serious and disturbing offense,” U.S. District Judge Amy J. St. Eve said in imposing the life term following a hearing in Federal Court. “Your actions in this case, Mr. Mandell, were evil . . . and showed a complete disregard for human life.”

The judge also imposed a mandatory consecutive five-year sentence for use of a firearm and a $5,000 fine. Mandell has been in custody since he was arrested in October 2012 and there is no parole in the federal prison system.

“Mr. Mandell was the mastermind of a truly barbaric crime,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Amerjeet Bhachu said in court. Mandell “was the principal author of an exceptionally sadistic and depraved plan to kidnap, torture, extort and murder,” Mr. Bhachu and Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane MacArthur argued in a sentencing memo.

Mandell, a Chicago police officer for approximately 10 years until 1983, served more than a decade on Illinois’ death-row for a murder conviction that was later overturned on legal grounds involving the admissibility of evidence at his trial, not because of innocence.

A co-defendant in the 2012 murder plot, Gary Engel, who was 61 at the time, of Homer Glen and a former police officer in Willow Springs, committed suicide shortly after he was arrested with Mandell.

The evidence at trial showed that Mandell rented a location in the 5300 block of West Devon Avenue, known to him as “Club Med,” not knowing at the time that the FBI had installed a hidden camera and recording equipment after a cooperating witness reported Mandell’s plan. Mandell and Engel outfitted the rental location to restrain, torture and kill the victim. They developed a plan to lure him from his residence; stocked “Club Med” with all the tools they needed to carry out the crimes; and obtained all the trappings they needed to pose as police officers in connection with the victim’s abduction.

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Steven Mandell Sentenced to Life in Prison for Murder Plot

After decades of drama in Chicago, including a murder conviction, death sentence, shocking exoneration and landmark lawsuit against the FBI, all Steven Mandell says he wanted to do was quietly live out his golden years in Florida. "I was happily retired, living with my lovely wife in a golf course community in Naples," Mandell, 64, said Thursday as he delivered bizarre remarks at his sentencing in a packed federal courtroom. "It was the perfect life."

Instead,he came out of retirement in 2012 and returned to Chicago, where he was soon arrested in a grisly plot to kidnap, murder and dismember a suburban businessman. Mandell said he was once again framed by an untrustworthy informant, continuing his "long FBI nightmare." But U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve was unmoved by the melodrama. Moments after the former Chicago cop wrapped up more than 30 minutes of mostly rambling remarks — including cheerfully wishing the judge a merry Christmas — St. Eve sentenced him to life in prison for kidnapping and extortion conspiracy and added a mandatory five-year sentence for a gun conviction.

It was an emphatic end for Mandell, a reputed underworld figure whom law enforcement has long considered a dangerous killer and elusive target.

Years ago Mandell — who then went by the name Steven Manning — was sent to death row for the drug-related 1990 slaying of a trucking firm owner. After his murder conviction was overturned on appeal, he won a landmark $6.5 million verdict in a lawsuit against the FBI. A judge, however, later threw out the verdict, and Mandell never collected a penny.

Mandell moved to Florida after the ruling and vanished from the public eye. Several years later, he came back to Chicago under his new name and soon was meeting with reputed mobsters at La Scarola restaurant on Grand Avenue, according to court records.

The latest case against Mandell unfolded in October 2012 when he and his accomplice, Gary Engel, were arrested outside the Northwest Side office of George Michael, a former banker and real estate mogul who pretended to go along with the macabre plan to kidnap Riverside businessman Stephen Campbell and extort him for his cash and property.

Michael had helped Mandell outfit a Devon Avenue storefront with an industrial sink, butcher table and other equipment needed to drain Campbell's body of blood and chop it to pieces. But Michael was wearing a wire for the feds, and the storefront — which Mandell dubbed "Club Med" — was rigged with a hidden FBI camera.

Engel hanged himself in his jail cell shortly after he and Mandell were arrested, authorities said.

In the videos played at Mandell's February trial, he laughed when he described how victims often come unglued before their deaths. He mimed a blindfolded prisoner, then drew a hand across his throat to signify a killing. He seemed to have mirth in his eyes as he made moaning sounds describing the carnage he could inflict.

"Uhhhh please ... aaaaaaahhhh! It's pitiful," Mandell said in one recording.

Mandell's attorney, Francis Lipuma, sought as few as 12 years in prison, saying Mandell should get credit for the two decades he spent behind bars for a murder he didn't commit. Lipuma noted that no one was actually harmed in the kidnapping plot and said if Mandell were released in his 80s, he'd be at a point in his life "when criminal activity would have concluded." But in asking for a life sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Amarjeet Bhachu painted Mandell as a sadistic narcissist who "actually takes pleasure from hurting people." "He likes it. It arouses him!" said Bhachu, pointing to the defense table at Mandell, who took a sip of water from a Styrofoam cup.

In her ruling, St. Eve said Mandell's actions showed a "complete disregard for human life." "The pure delight that you showed in those videos … it came through loud and clear," St. Eve said. "The glee in your face was very apparent. It was, quite frankly, chilling."

St. Eve said a life sentence was necessary to keep Mandell from returning to a life of violence and crime.

When FBI agents raided Mandell's Buffalo Grove home after his arrest, they found more than $16,000 in cash in two separate stashes as well as thousands of dollars more in a safe-deposit box at a nearby bank, recent court filings show. Mandell has asked for the money to be returned to his 83-year-old wife, but prosecutors have objected in sealed filings.

Thanks to Jason Meisner.

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