Angel del Villar and Chiquis: Conviction, Sentence, and Appeal

Ángel del Villar and Chiquis Rivera dated from 2012 to 2016, a relationship that placed the Del Records founder at the center of a public feud with Chiquis’s mother, the late Jenni Rivera. Nearly a decade after that breakup, del Villar was convicted in federal court in March 2025 of violating the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act by continuing to do business with a concert promoter tied to Mexican drug cartels. He was sentenced in August 2025 to four years in federal prison but remains free on bond while appealing.¹

How Their Relationship Began

Del Villar and Chiquis met in 2012 at the Premios Billboard de Regional Mexicano. He later said he did not initially know she was Jenni Rivera’s daughter.² The relationship drew immediate disapproval from Jenni Rivera, who objected to the 16-year age gap and to the fact that del Villar already had five children with two different women.³

The Public Feud With Jenni Rivera

The tension became a public spectacle at the 2012 Premios de la Radio in Los Angeles. As Jenni Rivera was leaving the ceremony, del Villar shouted insults at her in front of fans and attendees, including “puerca,” “cerda,” and “gorda.” Rivera confronted him, challenging him to say it to her face.⁴ Rivera later posted an open letter about the incident on social media. Chiquis wrote at the time that her mother had gone a month without speaking to her.⁵ Jenni Rivera died in a plane crash in December 2012.

What Chiquis Later Wrote About the Relationship

In her autobiography Invencible, Chiquis described del Villar as “jealous, controlling, and violent.” She credited him with supporting her early singing career and helping her navigate the industry after her mother’s death, but also recounted volatile episodes, including an incident at her 30th birthday party where an intoxicated del Villar grabbed her forcefully, leading to a near-physical confrontation with her uncle, Juan Rivera.³ She also wrote that del Villar wanted her to be a “housewife” and did not want her to pursue a music career.⁵

The couple broke up and reconciled several times before officially splitting on July 1, 2016. Chiquis wrote that the final break came because “I wanted to be valued for the woman I was; I didn’t want someone questioning every one of my moves.” Tabloid speculation about an alleged romance between Chiquis and J Balvin, which she said was fabricated, had also strained the relationship.³ Del Villar, in a 2018 podcast interview, said the relationship deteriorated when they “mixed business with the relationship” and that the split was mutual.² The day after the breakup, Chiquis met Lorenzo Méndez, whom she would later marry.

Chiquis’s Response to the Verdict

Chiquis did not publicly comment on del Villar’s conviction directly. The day after the March 27, 2025 verdict, she posted a photograph on Instagram of a pink calendar with a motivational message. Many followers interpreted it as a veiled reference to her ex-partner’s situation, though she did not mention him by name.⁶

The Federal Charges Against Del Villar

The prosecution centered on del Villar’s business relationship with Jesús “Chucho” Pérez Alvear, a Guadalajara-based concert promoter who controlled Gallística Diamante, also known as Ticket Premier. On April 6, 2018, the U.S. Treasury Department designated Pérez as a “specially designated narcotics trafficker” under the Kingpin Act, concluding that he laundered money for the Cártel de Jalisco Nueva Generación and its financial wing, Los Cuinis.⁷ U.S. authorities alleged Pérez used concerts and event revenue to mix cartel profits with legitimate ticket and concession sales.⁸

Once Treasury makes such a designation, U.S. persons and companies are prohibited from any transactions with the designated individual. Prosecutors alleged that del Villar and his talent agency, Del Entertainment, ignored the designation and kept arranging for their artists to perform at concerts in which Pérez had a financial interest. The centerpiece was an April 2018 concert at the Feria de San Marcos in Aguascalientes, promoted by Pérez. Ten days before the show, FBI agents warned the performing artist about Pérez’s designation and the legal consequences of going ahead. Del Villar then used his personal credit card to pay for a private jet to fly the artist to the concert.⁹ Evidence at trial showed del Villar and Del Entertainment kept arranging Mexico concerts involving Pérez through 2018 and 2019, generating more than $1.5 million in business.¹⁰

Pérez Alvear was charged alongside del Villar but pleaded guilty in May 2023 to a conspiracy count. He never served his sentence: he was shot and killed on December 4, 2024, at a restaurant in the Polanco neighborhood of Mexico City by two gunmen who fled on a motorcycle.¹¹

The Trial and Conviction

Del Villar’s trial began on March 18, 2025, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California before Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong and lasted nine days.¹² A central prosecution witness was Gerardo Ortiz, the corridos star who had been Del Records’ most popular artist from 2009 to 2019 and had already pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge of his own. Ortiz testified that del Villar “convinced” him to ignore the FBI warning he received in Phoenix on April 19, 2018, and to proceed with the Feria de San Marcos show.¹³

Prosecutors also introduced financial records for the private-jet payment, a voice message from CFO Luca Scalisi discussing a debt owed by Pérez and expressing concern about a “paper trail,” and a 2018 draft press release in which Del Records employees claimed the company would obey sanctions law, a release that was never distributed. Defense attorney Marissa Goldberg argued del Villar had been manipulated by a former employee, Brian Gutiérrez, and told jurors “there is something deeply wrong and manipulative about how this case was created and investigated.”¹⁴ On March 27, 2025, the jury found del Villar and Del Entertainment guilty of one count of conspiracy to transact in property of specially designated narcotics traffickers and ten counts of violating the Kingpin Act.⁹

Sentence and Pending Appeal

On August 15, 2025, Judge Frimpong sentenced del Villar to 48 months in federal prison, a $2 million fine, and three years of supervised release. The judge noted the statutory maximum was 30 years. Del Entertainment, the corporate defendant, received three years of probation and a $1.8 million fine.¹ Del Villar was initially ordered to surrender by December 1, 2025.¹⁰

That surrender did not happen. Judge Frimpong granted del Villar’s motion for release pending appeal, letting him remain free on bond under the same conditions as before. Opening appellate briefs are due December 22, 2025, the government’s response January 21, 2026, and an optional reply three weeks after that. The court also required joint status reports every 90 days while the appeal is pending.¹⁵

1
U.S. Department of Justice. Latin Music Conglomerate CEO Sentenced to 4 Years in Federal Prison
2
People en Español. Ex de Chiquis, Ángel: Por Qué Se Dejaron
3
Univision. Libro Chiquis Rivera Ángel Del Villar Novio
4
People en Español. El Escándalo Que Destapó la Pelea Entre Jenni Rivera y Su Hija Chiquis
5
El Universal. La Vez Que Ángel Del Villar y Jenni Rivera Pelearon Públicamente
6
Heraldo de México. El Mensaje Que Chiquis Publicó Luego Que Ángel Del Villar Fue Declarado Culpable
7
GovInfo. Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act SDN Listing
8
El País. Fame, Money and Ties to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel
9
U.S. Department of Justice. Latin Music Talent Agency and Its CEO Found Guilty of Violating U.S. Sanctions
10
Rolling Stone. Del Records’ Ángel Del Villar Sentenced to Four Years in Prison
11
Mexico News Daily. Polanco Shooting of Sanctioned Money Laundering Figure
12
Los Angeles Times. Del Records CEO Convicted
13
Billboard. Gerardo Ortiz Testifies at Del Records’ Ángel Del Villar Trial
14
Billboard. Del Records Ángel Del Villar Legal Trial Timeline
15
Digital Music News. Del Records’ Ángel Del Villar Appeal