Man guilty in murder-for-hire plot involving wife

A federal jury has found Samuel Velasco Gurrola guilty in a murder-for-hire plot involving his wife and her family, the defendant’s defense attorney said Monday.

Velasco Gurrola was found guilty on three counts of “conspiracy to kill in a foreign country,” three counts of “conspiracy to cause travel in foreign commerce in the commission of murder-for-hire,” and a single count of “racketeering-murder.”

“My client was found guilty after a trial with very emotionally laden testimony,” said Brock Benjamin, Velasco’s defense attorney. “My client believed, and still believes, the facts do not match what the government tried to prove. At this point, Samuel Velasco is evaluating his options and deciding how to move forward.”

A federal indictment returned on Sept. 22, 2015, and unsealed Sept. 25, 2015, charges El Paso residents Dalia Valencia 43; Samuel Velasco Gurrola, 41; and Emmanuel Velasco Gurrola, 29, with three counts of conspiracy to commit murder and three counts of conspiracy to cause foreign travel for murder for hire.

According to published reports, on October 3, 2008, Francisco Maria Sagredo Villareal was murdered in his house in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, Mexico. On November 20, 2008, Francisco’s daughter, Cinthia Sagredo Escobedo, was murdered in Ciudad Juarez.

Two days later, while traveling to her sister Cinthia’s funeral, Ruth Sagredo Escobedo was ambushed and murdered. Sagredo Escobedo was Velasco Gurrola’s wife.

According to the indictment, in September 2008, the defendants allegedly conspired to have family murdered.

The indictment further alleges that from September 2008 until November 22, 2008, the defendants allegedly conspired to pay someone to travel from the United States into Mexico to carry out their murder plot or caused someone to travel into Mexico, intending that a murder be committed, and that money was exchanged as part of the conspiracy.

If convicted on the murder charges, the defendants face life in federal prison.