José Ángel Del Villar was sentenced to 4 years in jail for illegally working with a cartel-linked live performance promoter regardless of realizing the authorized penalties.

José Ángel Del Villar was sentenced to 4 years in federal jail and fined $2 million Friday (August 15) after federal prosecutors stated he knowingly labored with a live performance promoter linked to 2 of Mexico’s most harmful drug cartels.

The 45-year-old CEO of Del Records and Del Entertainment Inc. was convicted in March on 10 counts of violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act and one rely of conspiracy to transact in property belonging to specifically designated narcotics traffickers. His firm was additionally hit with a $1.8 million effective and sentenced to a few years of probation, based on the U.S. Department of Justice.

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The case facilities on Del Villar’s enterprise dealings with Jesús Pérez Alvear, a Mexican live performance promoter whose firm Gallistica Diamante, often known as Ticket Premier, was blacklisted by the U.S. Treasury Department. According to prosecutors, Pérez and his enterprise “facilitated money laundering for the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG) and the Los Cuinis drug trafficking organization.”

“Even though Del Villar and Del Entertainment were aware that it was illegal to engage in transactions or dealings with Pérez, they willfully did business with him by continuing to have a Del Entertainment musical artist perform at concerts in which Pérez and Del Entertainment had a financial interest,” prosecutors stated.

Pérez was killed in Mexico in December 2024, months earlier than Del Villar’s sentencing.

Co-defendant Luca Scalis of West Hollywood pleaded responsible in May to 1 rely of conspiracy to transact in property of specifically designated narcotics traffickers. He’s scheduled to be sentenced October 22.

Mexican drug cartels like CJNG and Los Cuinis are thought-about among the many most violent and highly effective legal organizations on the planet. Known for his or her brutal enforcement ways and world drug trafficking operations, these teams usually use reliable companies—like live performance promotions—to launder illicit earnings. Their affect stretches throughout borders, making them a high precedence for U.S. and worldwide legislation enforcement.

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