Federal jury convicts Joe Fernandez of murder-for-hire in 2000 Bronx double killing paid for by his cousin

A federal jury in the Southern District of New York convicted Joe Fernandez on March 7, 2013 of conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire resulting in death and firearms charges for his role in the February 22, 2000 killing of Arturo Cuellar and Ildefonso Vivero Flores in the Bronx. Fernandez was paid $40,000 by his cousin Patrick Darge to act as a backup shooter in a scheme to murder two Mexican drug cartel members. The conviction rested largely on the testimony of Darge, a cooperating witness who had previously lied to the government in another case, a credibility issue that would become central to Fernandez's later compassionate release petition.