Feds: Fugitive Texas elementary teacher tied to hit men, drug running and kidnapping

Monica Velasco, a 42-year-old former teacher at Thomas Manor Elementary School in El Paso, has been charged on six felony counts in connection with a drug trafficking ring run by her family members. Monica Velasco, a 42-year-old former teacher at Thomas Manor Elementary School in El Paso, has been charged on six felony counts in connection with a drug trafficking ring run by her family members. Photo: Courtesy/U.S. Marshals Service Photo: Courtesy/U.S. Marshals Service Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Feds: Fugitive Texas elementary teacher tied to hit men, drug running and kidnapping 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A former teacher at an El Paso elementary school is on the run from federal authorities after being charged in connection with an alleged drug trafficking ring run by her family members.

In October, a federal grand jury in El Paso indicted Monica Velasco, a 42-year-old teacher at Thomas Manor Elementary School, on charges of conspiracy connected to racketeering, drug trafficking, money laundering and kidnapping in a foreign country.

Velasco quit her 14-year job at the school and fled from her El Paso home in September after her sister and two brothers were charged in connection with an alleged murder-for-hire plot in 2008 of a man and his two daughters in Juárez, Scott Williams, deputy for the U.S. Marshals Service in El Paso, said in an interview with mySA.com.

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"Everyone we've spoken to has said she's deathly afraid of Mexico," Williams said, adding that she did not enter Mexico in the past to visit family there and that authorities have "strong reason" to believe she is still in the El Paso area.

Deputies with the Lone Star Fugitive Task Force nearly captured Velasco at a home in El Paso's Lower Valley earlier this month, but she fled before deputies arrived, Williams said.

Authorities arrested Monica Velasco's mother Josefina Gurrola, 63, on Feb. 5 and charged her with concealing a person from arrest. Gurrola is accused in a criminal complaint of communicating with Velasco using disposable cellphones since about November.

The 63-year-old told investigators that Velasco fled after she "realized after her brother and sister were arrested that she would be next" and that her daughter "went into hiding after they were arrested because she was scared about going to jail," the complaint reads.

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The 42-year-old former teacher was primarily in charge of handling and storing money for what's referred to as the Velasco Criminal Enterprise in a federal indictment unsealed in January.

Federal officials allege that the El Paso-based enterprise has significant resources and conducts illegal activity in other parts of Texas as well as Las Vegas, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Carolina and the city of Juárez, just across the border of El Paso.

The organization allegedly engages in theft and burglary of vehicles, kidnapping, extortion, robbery and money laundering, according to the indictment.

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Members of the enterprise rip off or steal drug loads from suppliers or competing drug traffickers and then turning those drugs for a profit, the indictment alleges.

Velasco would receive or dole out drug proceeds to members of the enterprise and also transfer "ownership of property" for the enterprise and rent vehicles for members, federal prosecutors say.

On one occasion in 2014, Velasco transferred a Cadillac Escalade used to pay for one kilogram of cocaine to her brother Emmanuel Velasco Gurrola, who allegedly heads the enterprise, according to the indictment.

Emmanuel Velasco Gurrola, his brother and enterprise co-leader Samuel Velasco Gurrola and their sister Dalia Valencia were indicted in September for allegedly paying a hit man to kill 69-year-old Francisco Maria Sagredo Villareal of Juárez on Oct. 3, 2008, and his two daughters Cinthia Judith Sagredo Escobedo, 40, and Ruth Sagredo in November 2008.

Ruth Sagredo was married to Samuel Velasco Gurrola, the El Paso Times reported.

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Before arresting Velasco's mother last week, authorities had been tailing Josefina Gurrola as she would park in different locations around El Paso and sit in her car, the complaint says.

Gurrola told investigators that she was waiting for people to bring her information about her daughter's whereabouts.

The mother took her grandson to Ysleta Independent School District offices in order to obtain funds from Velasco's retirement account, according to the complaint.

Gurrola initially told deputies that a little girl standing near a curb gave her documents needed to obtain the check from the district, the complaint says.

However, Gurrola later admitted that Velasco provided the documents on Jan. 31 after deputies questioned who the child was, what street she was on and why the child was out in the cold.

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Gurrola gave deputies different answers for how the money withdrawn from Velasco's account would be used, according to the complaint.

Alternately, the 63-year-old said the money would be given to Velasco and used to pay lawyers for her children, the complaint reads.

Gurrola stopped speaking to investigators after they asked whether she received money on behalf of her son Emmanuel Velasco Gurrola at a McDonald's, the complaint says.

"Stop, stop," Gurrola told investigators, according to the complaint. "I do not want to speak to you all anymore because you do not believe anything I say."

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jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports