Teen Pleads Guilty In Drug Cartel Case

LAREDO, TX (AP) – A 17-year-old boy prosecutors allege was a hitman for the Mexican Gulf Cartel drug organization pleaded guilty in Laredo to felony murder today.

Rosalio “Bart” Reta made the plea in the Webb County Courthouse in Laredo, which was heavily guarded by deputies and police. State District Judge Joe Lopez immediately sentenced him to 40 years in prison.

The plea brought an abrupt end to a trial that partially exposed the organized cells the cartel allegedly used to carry out its orders in the United States and Mexico.

Prosecutors say Reta killed Noe Flores last year outside a Laredo home. They say Flores was the victim of mistaken identity, and that his half brother was the intended victim. Flores was shot at least seven times from the back.

Reta still faces charges in another Laredo killing. Hewas caught by Mexican authorities after his fingerprints were found in a car used in an armed attack at a crowded bar in Monterrey, Mexico. Four people were killed in the incident.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)