The two Mexican Mafia hitmen who murdered Balcones Heights cop Julian Pesina are appealing the life sentences handed down this week, Newsradio 1200 WOAI reports.
Lawyers for Jesse Santibanez and Alfredo Cardona say the government cut deals with the Mafia bosses while their clients were left out to dry.
"They were desperate to salvage their case. They gave away deal that were just too sweet," Tom McHugh says.
Santibanez, 30, and Cardona, 27, shot and killed Officer Pessina in 2014 outside his Balcones Heights tattoo shop. Testimony during their trial revealed that Pesina had claimed membership in the street gang and was selling narcotics. He was even paying a 10% street tax to the gang.
When the gang's leadership in San Antonio learned that Pesina was a Balcones Heights Police Officer, they ordered the hit.
On May 4, 2014, Jerry Idrogo, who is a Sergeant in the Texas Mexican Mafia, called Pesina and arranged for pickup of that street tax outside Pesina’s tattoo shop. Just before meeting Pesina, Idrogo dropped off Santibanez and Cardona on the side of the building. Once Pesina walked up to the car and handed Idrogo the payment, Santibanez and Cardona came around the corner and shot and killed Pesina.
In a deal, Idrogo was given a 20-year sentence last November.
McHugh, who is representing Santibanez, says it's not fair the low-level thugs got life when their bosses got 20 years.
"It's backwards and it's an example of the government hijacking this court's judicial discursion," he says.
Defense Attorney John Convery, who is representing Cardona, compared the case to a business owner who orders hourly workers to illegally dump their product in a river. The owner strikes a deal to get out of jail while the workers go away for life.
For now, Santibanez and Cardona are headed to federal jail to start serving their life sentence. It's unclear when an appeals process could begin.