On Thursday, the federal ju umpire is the CEO of Del Records, a Bell Gardens-based label that produces Latin music, conspiring to violate federal laws that prohibit US residents and businesses from doing business with known drug traffickers and their peers.
After a nine-day trial, 44-year-old Angel Del Villar and his talent agency Del Entertainment were found to be one count of conspiracy to do business with licensed people connected to drug trafficking.
The lawyers for Angel Del Villar, CEO of Del Records, have tried to shift responsibility to former employees of the label.
(Ella Hovsepian/Getty Images)
The Kingpin Act prohibits anyone in the United States from communicating or engaged in transactions with people or businesses approved by the Treasury Department.
Federal authorities arrested and charged Del Viller in 2022.
In April 2018, Del Villar and Talent Agency went on business with Guadalajara-based music promoter Chucho, aka Chucho, aka Chucho, aka Chucho, aka Chucho, a music promoter based in Guadalajara, according to the evidence presented at the trial.
Finance officials said Perez washed drug money for Los Quinis, a human trafficking group associated with Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generasion.
Perez was accused of mixing traffickers’ profits with legitimate revenue from ticket and refreshment sales. He also promoted Narcocorid singers, human traffickers and ballads for their crimes, Treasury officials said.
Perez had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to do business with licensed people related to drug trafficking. He promoted a concert at Del Entertainment in Mexico until March 2019. He was murdered in Mexico in December 2024.
On trial – featured the testimony of Gerald Ortiz, a popular singer in Mexican music – Del Villar’s lawyers attempted to shift responsibility to Brian Gutierrez, a former employee of Del Records.
Marissa Goldberg, one of Del Villar’s attorneys, said in her opening statement that the case was focused on “false trust” and “manipulation.”
Goldberg accused Gutierrez of working with the government.
Gutierrez’s lawyer, Paul K. Schriefer, pushed it back in an email in a statement, noting that the ju-described denied the argument that Gutierrez had done something wrong.
“The truth is that Gutierrez is an honest man with a prominent record of seeing illegal things happen in his work, and he blew whi on top of it, was fired, and his reputation was subsequently damaged,” Schriefer said.
In an email statement, Del Villar’s legal team said they strongly oppose the verdict and plan to appeal.
“This is one of those times when the criminal justice system was incorrect,” the statement read. “This case is unique and unprecedented and, unfortunately, it is clear that this complexity was misunderstood.
“On a personal level, Del Viller loves his wife, children and an incredibly strong circle of family and friends who have given him unwavering support.”
According to the US law firm, Del Viller and Del Entertainment deliberately went on business with Perez.
“The defendant here has chosen to participate in business with individuals who knew he had ties to CJNG and was designated as a drug trafficker under the Kingpin Act,” Atty said. said Joseph McNally. “Cartels and cross-border criminal organizations cause immense harm to our nation. We use all our tools to eliminate these organizations and prosecute those who do business with the cartel.”
During the trial, Goldberg told the ju judge that his client, an immigrant from Mexico, “has achieved America’s dream.” She said he has a passion for Mexican local music, his childhood music, and started his record label 20 years ago.
Officials said the issue began in 2018.
Ortiz, one of the artists of Del Records, will perform at a concert hosted by Pérez in the state of Aguascalientes, Mexico, and when the promoter was approved, FBI special agent Lauren Radke wrote in an affidavit filed in court.
An employee at Del Villar drafted a news release from the time, saying the company “will not allow individuals to book my show bookings in accordance with US law.”
Although the news release was never distributed, agents used search warrants to get the draft a year later, Radke writes. That news release occurred repeatedly throughout the trial.
Radke and other agents met Ortiz at the Phoenix airport, where he handed the singer a letter from the Treasury Department and told him he was forbidden from doing business with Perez.
Later that day, Dell Records’ Chief Financial Officer Lucascalis left an audio message with a record label employee. Scalisi told the chief financial officer that Del Villar wanted him to go to Mexico and collect the debts Perez owed to the Mexican company that Del Viller belongs to, Radke wrote.
Scalisi said he was interested in creating a “paper trail” that would lead to Perez because the concert promoters were “under surveillance.”
Authorities also charged Scalis, 58, with violating Kingpin Act. He pleaded not guilty and his trial is scheduled for July.
Ortiz performed at the concert Perez, which was eventually performed at Aguascalientes, writes Radke. According to the US law firm, Del Viller’s credit cards were used to pay for the private jet that transported Ortiz from Van Nice Airport to Aguascalientes Performance.
On several other occasions in 2018 and 2019, authorities said they continued their business by arranging Ortiz to perform at concerts in Mexico.
Despite already recognizing Perez’s status, the singer of “Para Quee Last Imam” admitted to performing at the 2018 Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, Mexico, as she performed in court.
Ortiz, signed under Del Records between 2009 and 2019, has already pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to the case.
Del Villar is scheduled to be sentenced on August 15th and faces up to 30 years in prison at each count. Del Entertainment faces a five-year probation sentence and a $10 million fine for each count.
Times staff writers Matthew Orms and Carlos de Loera contributed to this report.
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