Bandido gets 13 years without parole for retaliation killing near San Antonio

A former Bandidos member who participated in the biker club’s killing of another man 16 years ago was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years in federal prison without parole, plus five years of supervision after his release.

Frederick Cortez, 50, was charged in a racketeering case that took down the top leaders of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, and was the first to plead guilty in the case and cooperate with federal authorities.

In October 2016, he pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering in the death of Robert Lara, who was ambushed and shot at a picnic rest area south of San Antonio in January 2002.

Lara was killed because he was suspected of slaying a Bandido in late 2001, according to testimony during the three-month trial of the Bandidos’ former national vice president John Xavier Portillo and ex-president Jeffrey Fay Pike. Pike and Portillo were sentenced last week to life in prison without parole for leading the racketeering conspiracy.

Related: San Antonio judge sentences Bandidos chief to life for prison

Tuesday, Cortez apologized to Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra for “this crime I was involved in.”

Since leaving the Bandidos in 2014 and pleading guilty two years later, he has become an active member of his church’s ministry and asked for leniency so he can continue counseling other “broken, lost men.”

One of Cortez’s lawyers, George Aristotelidis, told Ezra that Cortez has diminshed mental capacity, which made him susceptible to manipulation by the Bandidos. He worked for Portillo’s small home air conditioning company for 17 years and became a member of the club because he sought social acceptance, Aristotelidis said.

Federal sentencing guidelines recommended a sentence of between 24 years to more than 30 years in prison, but because of the plea deal, Cortez’ sentence was capped at no more than 20 years in prison. Aristotelidis asked the judge to sentence Cortez to five years in prison, but Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Fuchs told the judge that that was too low.

The judge said he agreed that Cortez “was basically a robot for (the Bandidos), and they took full advantage of him.”

But “there is no way this court can impose a 5-year sentence on someone involved directly in a cold-blooded murder,” Ezra said. “There are some crimes you simply can’t walk away from, no matter how many good things you become involved in.”

Cortez had been out on bond since pleading guilty, and the judge denied a defense request that Cortez turn himself in at a later date to begin his sentence. Ezra ordered him into custody immediately, in part, for his safety.

At the trial, former Bandidos member Richard Steven Merla, testified that a woman working with the Bandidos drove Lara in January 2002 to a dark picnic area along Interstate 37 south of San Antonio, where club members, including Portillo, waited. Merla dragged Lara out of the car, and Merla and Cortez then emptied their pistols into him to retaliate for the killing of Javier Negrete, who was secretary of the Bandidos’ Southwest San Antonio chapter.

Related: Bandidos member Merla testifies against his former bosses

Negrete was killed in late 2001 when someone in a sport utility vehicle fired shots at him outside Tiffany’s Billiards in San Antonio, Merla testified. Cortez, then a prospect trying to become a member, returned fire, hitting the SUV, Merla said, and was later made a full-patch member.

After Merla and Cortez killed Lara, they were were given “Expect No Mercy” patches, which are dispensed for a noted act for the club, Merla said.

Merla is serving 40 years in Texas state prison for the 2004 murder of boxer Robert “Pikin” Quiroga and 40 years concurrently for Lara’s slaying.

Fuchs said that Cortez corroborated Merla’s story and helped the feds identify other crimes Portillo was involved in, but Cortez was not called to testify at the trial, in part, because prosecutors believed his diminished mental capacity would have resulted in confusion when he was questioned on the stand.
