Ex-Gulf Cartel boss gets life sentence for drug conspiracy

BROWNSVILLE, Texas (AP) — A Mexican national who headed the Gulf Cartel from 2003 to 2012 has been sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty previously in a U.S. court to drug smuggling conspiracy. A federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, sentenced 51-year-old Jorge “El Cos” Costilla-Sanchez on Thursday for conspiring to ship cocaine and marijuana from Mexico into the U.S. Costilla-Sanchez entered his plea in September 2017. U.S. District Judge Fernando Rodriguez Jr. noted that Costilla-Sanchez led an organization that used guns and intimidation to maintain control, resorting to violence and killing to keep power. The defendant also was ordered Thursday to pay a $5 million forfeiture.