Gonzalez was released from prison recently after serving a sentence for running an illegal 8-Liner gambling operation.
A man who was serving probation for running an illegal online gambling has been arrested for a kidnapping and ransom scheme in Matamoros, Mexico. United States, Texan, and Mexican authorities had been working together to find the suspects in the case, who had been holding an American man hostage for a week. The suspect in the case is likely to face decades in prison, if convicted.
The illegal gambling operator involved in the case is Alejandro Gonzalez, a 25-year old man from Hidalgo who was released from prison recently after a 1-year sentence for running an illegal 8-liner operation. His alleged accomplice was Jose Castillo Jr., an 18-year old man from Brownsville.
Kidnapped Man on May 12
Law enforcement in Brownsville, Texas allege that Gonzalez and Castillo picked up a 28-year old Texas man in McAllen on May 12. They are alleged to have transported him across the border into Mexico to hold him as a hostage in Matamoros, which is just across the Texas-Mexico border. The captors are alleged to have demanded a ransom be paid for the man’s release.
Gonzalez and Castillo were stopped by Mexican federal authorities while they were driving their truck near Matamoros on May 17. Inside the vehicle, they had the captive man. The Federalis arrested Gonzalez and Castillo and informed US authorities they had the kidnapping victim.
Transported across Reynosa Bridge
According to the kidnapped man, he had been transported across the international bridge near Reynosa and held in the Las Brisas neighborhood of Metamoros since. He was told that a ransom negotiation was underway.
This is not Alejandro Gonzalez’s first run-in with the law. In October 2014, he was arrested for running an illegal 8-liner operation. 8-liners are a popular form of gambling in Texas convenience stores and gas stations. If licensed by a local city and compliant with local laws (which bar cash payment for winnings), 8-liners are a legal way for local Mom-and-Pop businesses to make a little extra money.
Gonzelez’s 8-Liner Operation
That was not the case in Alejandro Gonzalez’s case. He was one of several co-owners of Valera’s Auto Sales in McAllen, which ostensibly was a used car dealership catering to Mexican-Americans. Instead, Valera’s Auto Sales was a front for an illegal 8-liner business.
The business was raided on October 1, 2014. Gonzalez was charged with a number of crimes, including organized crime, which carried with it a 2-year sentence and a $10,000 fine. Instead, Gonzalez pleaded guilty to possession of a gambling device.
1-Year Prison Term
Possession of a gambling device is a Class-A misdemeanor in the State of Texas. For his guilty plea, Alejandro Gonzalez received a 1-year prison sentence, followed by 2 years of probation. The plea bargain was made in August 2015, and Gonzalez’s prison term ended (in less than a year, due to “good behavior”).
It appears that Alejandro Gonzalez wanted to make up for lost time. The charges are much more serious this time. Armed kidnapping, ransoming hostages, and transporting American citizens against their will across international borders are serious charges. Conviction of such crimes is likely to bring decades in prison, especially given one’s probationary status.
Alejandro Gonzalez is likely to be extradited back to the United States. He committed a crime in the USA and then tried to escape justice by using Mexico as his safe haven, something Mexican authorities are likely to consider when choosing whether to extradite the alleged criminal. Given their cooperation with US authorities in the case already, they are likely to extradite.
Possible Member of a Drug Cartel
The right-wing news source, Breitbart, immediately described Gonzalez and Castillo as Gulf Cartel members. Other news sources have not identified the men as cartel members. VICE News described a number of recent cases in which kidnappings of American citizens were taking place. While VICE, affiliated with HBO, attributed much of the crime on the US-Mexico border to drug cartels, it stopped short of naming the former 8-liner operator as a member of the cartels.
VICE News cited a US State Department statement from April 2015 on border crime, which said, “The number of reported kidnappings in Tamaulipas is among the highest in Mexico. State and municipal law enforcement capacity is limited to nonexistent in many parts of Tamaulipas.”
