Gilberto Lerma Plata | |
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| Born | Gilberto Lerma Plata 1962 or 1963 (age 61–62) |
| Nationality | Mexican |
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| Criminal penalty | 151 months |
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Served sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas; released in January 2022 | |
Gilberto Lerma Plata (born 1962/1963) is a Mexican former police chief and convicted drug lord. He began his career in 1993 as a police officer in the Tamaulipas State Police when his cousin Manuel Cavazos Lerma became Governor of Tamaulipas. Lerma Plata was eventually promoted to police commander in Reynosa and Miguel Alemán. In the late 1990s, while still working for the police, Lerma Plata joined the Gulf Cartel, a criminal group based in Tamaulipas, for whom he facilitated drug trafficking operations from Mexico to the US, coordinated cash smuggling operations, and aided in the procurement of firearms.
In 2011, Lerma Plata was indicted by the United States District Court for the District of Columbia for cocaine and marijuana trafficking, but the indictment remained initially sealed in court. In 2012, he attempted to cross the US–Mexico border to visit family members in Texas and was arrested by US officials, as he was unaware of the charges he faced in the US. In 2013, he pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking and was later sentenced to 151 months in prison. He was also ordered to forfeit US$10 billion in drug proceeds. Lerma Plata served part of his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Beaumont, Texas, and was released in January 2022.