Osiel Cárdenas Guillén Incorrectly Reported as Being Released, the Former Gulf Cartel Leader is Still in US Prison

 ”Socalj” for Borderland Beat

With Contributions from “Itzli” “Char” & “Enojon”

Recently, the news outlet Zeta Tijuana reported that the former leader of the Gulf Cartel and co-founder of the Los Zetas had already been released from USP Terra Haute Federal Prison in Indiana more than a month earlier than his scheduled release date of August 30, 2024.

However, Zeta Tijuana was accessing a Web 3 variation of the BOP Inmate Locator Registry, likely an outdated database on an internal or test server. That database showed his Release Date [future tense] as 07/01/2024. But his BOP Inmate Number 62604-079, still maintains his August release date on the official BOP website.

From Zeta Tijuana’s Article

Based on the Zeta Tijuana screenshot and Borderland Beat’s research; they accessed the BOP portal via www3.fed.bop.gov/inmateloc. The correct BOP website for locating prisoner records is www.bop.gov/inmateloc. 

Screenshot of BOP Inmate Locator Site

Based on our research, it seems that the incorrect database is outdated by 2 years so may have reflected his potential release date at the time. His release date has changed several times in recent years following cooperation deals.

He was initially scheduled for release in 2035, this date was later reduced to 2028 and further to 2025, accounting for his time served in Mexican custody and in the U.S. before his formal sentence.

Searching for federal US prisoner status can often be tricky as Spanish naming conventions and slight alterations to prisoner’s names can result in not being found. However, as we saw with the Borderland Beat revelation of “La Barbie’s” possible cooperation and US Marshal protection during the Garcia Luna trial; the location, custody status and release dates of federal prisoners are kept up with accurately.

Osiel’s listing is one of those odd ones as his first name is registered as “Oziel,” while his son was listed under Osiel. Oziel was recorded in older DEA documents so that is likely where the spelling difference stemmed from.

Osiel Cárdenas Guillén, 57 years old, was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, on May 18, 1967. The former leader of the Gulf Cartel, was imprisoned since 2010, in the maximum security prison Florence ADMAX, in Colorado, USA, serving a 25-year sentence for the crimes of drug trafficking, money laundering and extortion of federal agents of the United States.

Court records revealed that his legal team successfully arranged for him to be held in less restrictive federal penitentiaries in Atlanta and Florida, affording him more privileges than in ADX Colorado. He was ultimately moved to USP Terra Haute and would be under supervised release for 5 years.

On March 7, 2005, the Mexican government granted Cárdenas Guillén’s extradition, but his surrender was not immediate. He was finally extradited on January 19, 2007 to the United States, where he faced 19 charges in a federal court in Houston, Texas.

Then, in July 2009, during his trial, Cárdenas Guillén pleaded guilty to one count of drug trafficking, one of money laundering, and three counts of extortion and attempted murder of U.S. federal agents. In exchange, the former CDG leader had 12 other charges dropped in 2010, and was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $50 million.

Sources Borderland Beat, Zeta Tijuana, BOP