By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 A California man who co-founded one of Mexico\u2019s most powerful and violent drug cartels pleaded guilty on Tuesday in the U.S. to a federal narcotics conspiracy charge.<\/p>\n
Erick Valencia Salazar formed the Jalisco New Generation Cartel with Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, the drug lord known as \u201cEl Mencho\u201d who was killed by the Mexican army<\/a> in February.<\/p>\n Valencia Salazar 49, of Santa Clara, California, faces a mandatory-minimum prison sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life in prison after pleading guilty in Washington, D.C., to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine for U.S. importation. Chief Judge James Boasberg is scheduled to sentence him on July 31.<\/p>\n Valencia Salazar was a member of the Milenio Cartel before he and Oseguera Cervantes founded the Jalisco cartel, which is known by its Spanish-language acronym CJNG. Valencia Salazar, also known as \u201cEl 85,\u201d formed his own cartel, La Nueva Plaza, after parting ways with \u201cEl Mencho,\u201d who led the CJNG until his death.<\/p>\n A. Tysen Duva, the assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department\u2019s criminal division, said the CJNG has inflicted \u201cimmeasurable damage\u201d on the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cValencia Salazar was also responsible for furthering the rampant violence in Mexico, at the expense of people\u2019s lives and the safety of communities, that helped destabilize the region and allow crime to flourish,\u201d Duva said in a statement.<\/p>\n