Feds: Texas Mexican Mafia killed drug-dealing cop

Balcones Heights Officer Julian Pesina was killed in May 2014. Balcones Heights Officer Julian Pesina was killed in May 2014. Photo: Courtesy Photo Photo: Courtesy Photo Image 1 of / 65 Caption Close Feds: Texas Mexican Mafia killed drug-dealing cop 1 / 65 Back to Gallery

The Texas Mexican Mafia ordered the death of a Balcones Heights police officer last year after they found out through Facebook that the man who was dealing drugs for them was also a cop, authorities claim.

The gang members lured officer Julian Pesina to his death by arranging a meeting to collect the 10-percent tax — known as “the dime” — that drug dealers must pay the gang. They waited until after he made his payment to the gang before they killed him, federal authorities said.

The details came to light Thursday after the FBI and other law officers announced they had transferred into federal custody a reputed member of the Texas Mexican Mafia, Jesse Santibanez, in connection with Pesina’s death.

The heavily tattooed Pesina, 29, was off duty when he was gunned down outside Notorious Ink on Hillcrest Drive, the tattoo shop he co-owned.

A federal grand jury on Wednesday indicted Santibanez and two other fellow TMM members also in state custody: Jerry Idrogo, 34, and Alfredo Cardona, 36. Santibanez was ordered held without bail after his initial appearance in federal court, and Idrogo and Cardona are to appear in coming days.

The indictment, which sources say is the first in a series to come targeting the gang, charges the trio with one count each of using and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence.

The indictment alleges that Pesina had claimed membership in the TMM. The TMM, also known as “Mexikanemi” or by “Eme,” the Spanish word for the letter “M”, apparently learned of Pesina’s boasts of being a member of their gang. They found out through his Facebook page that he was a cop, records said.

On May 4, 2014, Idrogo contacted Pesina and arranged for the pickup of “the dime” outside of Pesina’s tattoo shop, the FBI and San Antonio police found.

Before meeting Pesina, Idrogo dropped off Santibanez and Cardona on the side of the building, court records said. Once Pesina walked up to the car and handed Idrogo payment for the tax, he motioned to Santibanez and Cardona, who ambushed Pesina and shot and killed him, federal authorities said.

Numerous sources had previously confirmed to the San Antonio Express-News that Pesina had been under investigation himself, by the SAPD and the FBI, before his death. The investigation concerned drug and racketeering allegations involving the Texas Mexican Mafia, the sources said.

Authorities were planning to arrest Pesina and likely would have done so within a week had he not been killed, the sources have said.

“From what I know, (Pesina) was on Facebook and talked smack,” said Angel Vasquez, who retired from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice’s Parole Division and supervised many TMM members. “They don’t like that.”

Idrogo was arrested last fall in Ohio, and was extradited to Bexar County. He confessed to his role in the killing and identified Cardona and Santibanez as the gunmen, court records said.

Cardona was already in Bexar County Jail awaiting trial on three felony drug counts when he was charged with murder in state court. Santibanez was arrested after he was found hiding under a bed at his girlfriend’s South Side home Sept. 16. The girlfriend, Priscilla Berlanga√, 24, was charged with hindering apprehension, a state felony.

The reports that Pesina had tattoos widely recognized to be trademarks of the gang and that he had been under investigation caused an uproar in Balcones Heights, resulting in the ouster of then-Police Chief Henry Dominguez.

Vasquez, the former parole officer, said the gang has gone through a series of changes since top leaders have been taken down in a series of prosecutions going back to the 1990s. Its newer members can be bold, but less likely to stick to the gang’s rules.

“They’re younger and they are not as disciplined as they used to be,” Vasquez said.

gcontreras@express-news.net

Twitter: @gmaninfedland