DEA spokeswoman Lisa Webb Johnson confirmed Thursday the planes owned by Vegas-based Starwood Management were seized in Texas and Arizona, but she declined go over information on the truth. The agency also offers subpoenaed every one of the company's records, including any correspondence it offers had having a former Tijuana mayor who U.S. police have long suspected has ties to gangland.
The person widely regarded as behind the aviation company can be an ex-convict named Christian Esquino, 50, who may have a lengthy and checkered legal past. Corporate records list his sister-in-law because the company's only officer, but insurance agencies for many of the firm's planes say in the court documents the woman is just a front knowning that Esquino could be the one out of charge.
Esquino's legal woes go back decades. He pleaded guilty to some fraud charge that stemmed at a major drug investigation in Florida during the early 1990s and quite a few recently was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison in a very California aviation fraud case. Esquino, a Mexican citizen, was deported upon his release. Esquino and several other companies they have either been included in or owns are also sued for neglecting to pay vast amounts in loans, in line with court public records.
The 43-year-old California-born Rivera died with the peak of her career if the plane she was traveling in nose-dived into your ground while flying on the northern Mexican capital of scotland - Monterrey towards city centre of Toluca early Sunday morning. She was probably the most successful female singer in grupero, a male-dominated Mexico regional style, together branched out into acting and reality television.
It remained unclear Thursday what exactly caused the crash and why Rivera was on Esquino's plane. The 78-year-old pilot and five others were also killed. Esquino had not been on the airplane.
