SAN DIEGO -- A May 15 trial date has been set for the reputed leader of the Arellano-Felix Organization, which is suspected of drug trafficking and carrying out a score of murders in the United States and Mexico.

Javier Arellano-Felix is charged with conspiracy, racketeering and other counts which could lead to the death penalty if he's convicted.

New charges are expected to be filed against him this week, accusing him of additional criminal activity over the past three years, prosecutors told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

Arellano-Felix, who is being held in solitary confinement, was captured Aug. 14 on a fishing boat in international waters off the coast of Cabo San Lucas and brought to San Diego to face federal charges.

U.S. District Judge Larry Bruns set the May trial date Monday and scheduled another status conference for Jan. 2.

Arellano-Felix and 11 other alleged high-ranking members of the organization were indicted in July 2003 and charged with importing and distributing drugs into the United States.

The indictment alleges that the organization negotiated with Columbian cocaine traffickers to buy tons of cocaine, then arranged to have it smuggled into the United States.

The organization also recruited bodyguards and assassins who killed rival drug traffickers, informants and Mexican law enforcement and military personnel, as well as members of the news media, according to the indictment.

Javier Arellano-Felix and his brothers, Benjamin and Eduardo, were charged in December 2003 with conducting an illegal enterprise through a pattern of racketeering activity, conspiring to import and distribute cocaine and marijuana and money laundering.

The oldest brother, Francisco Rafael Arellano-Felix, was extradited from Mexico to San Diego in September and pleaded not guilty to charges that he sold cocaine to an undercover agent at a Midway Drive hotel 26 years ago.

Another brother, Ramon Arellano-Felix -- considered the cartel's enforcer -- was killed in a shootout with police in 2002. Benjamin Arellano- Felix was arrested a few weeks later.

Eduardo Arellano-Felix is still at large.