On December 27, Michelle Angelica Pineda, also known as “La Chely”, who was arrested by FBI El Paso and U.S. Border Patrol agents in 2024, was sentenced to 50 years in Mexican prison by a Chihuahuan State judge.
Pineda was sentenced along with five of her “Artistas Assassinos." They were all sentenced for their role in the murder of 23-year-old Mexican national Jorge Rentería Rodríguez.
On February 15, 2024, agents from FBI El Paso’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force and the U.S. Border Patrol located and arrested Pineda at a local motel. Pineda, a Mexican national, was wanted by the Government of Mexico (GOM) for her involvement in five homicides and was suspected in multiple other homicides in Ciudad de Juarez.
“The deportation highlighted the swift action of our agents and our partners by successfully taking a violent assassin off the streets of El Paso and putting her back into the hands of Mexican law enforcement to be sentenced for her extremely violent atrocities in Mexico,” said Jarod Brown, FBI El Paso special agent in charge. “Working hand-in-hand with our partners—whether in law enforcement, the private sector, and with foreign law enforcement agencies—is paramount in order to keep people like Pineda from bringing violence and drugs into the United States and our communities.”
Members of the FBI Safe Streets Gang Task Force, El Paso Police Department’s Gang Unit, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division, and U.S. Border Patrol learned through an active investigation that Pineda had entered the U.S. illegally and was operating a drug trafficking ring on behalf of the “Artistas Assessino” gang located in Mexico. Pineda was known for her extreme brutality, such as dismembering bodies, removing hearts, and placing the hearts in front of “Santa Muerte” altars and statues.
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In the early morning hours, FBI El Paso agents, U.S. Border Patrol BORTAC [Border Patrol Tactical Unit] operators, El Paso Police Department Gang officers, and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents discovered several firearms, machetes, fentanyl pills, powdered fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, Xanax, and methamphetamine in the hotel room in which she was located. Pineda was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. FBI and U.S. Border Patrol agents then escorted her to the port of entry to be transferred into the custody of the Chihuahua State Police and the State Attorney General of Chihuahua (FISCALÍA).
This investigation was the result of a multi-agency effort from the FBI’s Safe Street Task Force, located at the Texas Anti-Gang Center which consists of FBI, the El Paso Police Department Gang Unit, the El Paso Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Division, El Paso Independent School District Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the private sector firm Leo Technologies.
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