Federal authorities are offering a $1 million reward for any information that leads to the arrest of a man who officials say orchestrated the 2013 murder-for-hire plot of a man in Southlake.
Jose Rodolfo Villarreal-Hernandez, known as “El Gato,” was added to the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list Tuesday, according to a statement from the FBI.
The FBI says Villarreal-Hernandez stalked Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa and planned the fatal shooting of the man at a Southlake shopping center.
Guerrero was an attorney for a Mexican drug cartel.
He and his wife were leaving the Southlake Town Center on May 22, 2013, when a white Toyota Sequoia drove up to the couple’s Range Rover as the wife was loading the car.
Guerrero was shot where he sat in the passenger seat. The shooter got back into the Toyota and fled.
Two men, Jesus Gerardo Ledezma-Cepeda and Jose Luis Cepeda-Cortes, were convicted in 2016 of stalking Guerrero. They were not the shooters, officials said.
FBI officials say Villarreal-Hernandez held a grudge against Guerrero and used a group to stalk the man as early as March 2011. The FBI also found that the same group allegedly committed the murder-for-hire of the man in 2013, under orders from Villarreal-Hernandez.
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The United States District Court, Northern District of Texas issued a federal arrest warrant for Villarreal-Hernandez in 2018. He is charged with interstate stalking and conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire.
Officials say Villarreal-Hernandez is 5-feet-4 inches tall and is approximately 165 pounds. The FBI thinks he may be hiding out in Mexico and should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone with information about Villarreal-Hernandez should call the FBI at 1-800-225-5324. Tips can also be provided online at tips.fbi.gov.
