The brother of two notorious Mexican cartel leaders has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for money laundering.
A judge in Texas on Thursday sentenced Jose Trevino Morales, 46, for investing $16 million of drug money in buying, training and racing horses across the Southwest.
Morales owns a home in Balch Springs that was raided by the FBI in June. One of the horses from the operation, called Tremor Enterprises LLC, won the Dash for Cash at Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie.
Seventeen others are charged in the Zetas money laundering operation. Trevino's wife and daughter have pleaded guilty to lesser charges.
Mexican authorities arrested Trevino's brother, Miguel Angel Trevino Morales, in July. Trevino's other brother, Oscar Omar Trevino Morales, remains at large.
At trial, prosecutors said the operation created fake companies and fixed races. Horse owners, trainers and others crafted bank deposits to mask the drug money being used to fund the operation, which Trevino ran for his brothers from an Oklahoma ranch.
