FBI Arrests Suspected Mexican Mafia Hitman
A 36-year-old San Antonio man accused of being a mob hit man suspected in at least three murders and believed to have given the order to have a Texas police officer killed, Rubén "Menace" Reyes, was arrested by the FBI on Wednesday.
According to an affidavit written by an FBI agent on the case, Ruben Reyes is accused of fatally shooting three high-ranking members of his own Texas Mexican Mafia on Jan. 13 of this year.
Authorities state that Reyes and an unidentified man dug a large grave in rural Frio County, 30 miles southwest of San Antonio, and Reyes proceeded to kill three men and haul their bodies to the grave. The men, who were found in a shallow grave in Pearsall, Texas one week ago, were Carlos “Worm” Chapa, Mark Anthony “Lefty” Bernal, and Johnny “Smiley” Solis.
The men were murdered, according to the released affidavit written by FBI agent Martin Martinez, quoted in Reuters, “for their alleged mishandling of $60,000 and making poor decisions in regards to the group's daily operations."
Investigators further link the confessed hit man to the murder of a San Antonio police officer named Julian Pesina, who was shot to death in May as he left a tattoo parlor.
Reyes, described as a "Lieutenant of Lieutenants" in the Texas Mexican Mafia (La Mexikanemi), a prison-based gang that was founded in the 1980s which is tied to drug dealing and loan sharking, faces a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison if convicted on federal racketeering charges.
Reyes turned himself in to a San Antonio detective this month after he was the target of an alleged hit at his home. Four men opened fire when Reyes opened the door, wounding him and a bystander.
At a court hearing Wednesday, according to My San Antonio, Reyes, dressed in a white T-shirt and dark sweatpants, sat quietly at the defense table, answering the judge’s questions with a simple “yes” or “no” and requesting to be appointed an attorney.
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