American federal judge Brian Cogan presided this Thursday in New York at a preparatory hearing for the trial that will begin on January 17 against the former Secretary of Public Security of Mexico, Genaro Garcia Luna.
In the hearing, which lasted just 15 minutes, the prosecutors handed over the former Mexican official’s lawyer, Cesar de Castroand to the judge Brian Cogan, some 10,000 documents as part of the investigation against García Luna. The parties did not reach any agreement, so they declared “everything ready” to go straight to trial next year.
Prosecutors are expected to present at least 19 witnesses in the trial against the former Mexican secretary, and it is not ruled out that the drug trafficker Edgar Valdez Villarreal “La Barbie” can be presented as one of them, because he is currently -somewhere- in the custody of the United States government.
Cesar de Castro He said at the end of the hearing that he already has the list of witnesses who will participate in the trial, although their identities will not be revealed due to the risk they represent to their integrity. He said that the short time to review the evidence presented by the prosecutors will be a challenge for his office.
It should be noted that just on December 11, the United States Department of Justice handed over to the Federal Court in New York more incriminating evidence.
garcia moon He faces five charges in the United States for allegedly protecting the Sinaloa Cartel during his tenure as federal Security Secretary in collaboration with two of his then collaborators: Luis Cárdenas Palomino and Ramón Pequeño García. Last November 22, Brian Cogan He denied dropping four of the charges against García Luna, who argued that these charges for possessing, importing, and distributing narcotics to the United States should be dismissed because they prescribed five years after the accusations (2007 and 2017).
On January 9, 2023, the selection of the jury in the case will begin, and on the 17th of the same month the trial will begin to resolve the guilt or not of García Luna in the crimes with which he is accused. Prosecutors estimate the process will take about two months.
garcia moon He was arrested in December 2019 in Dallas, United States, and later transferred to a jail in New York. Among the five charges against García Luna in the US are: criminal conspiracy to traffic 23,000 and 19,000 kilograms of cocaine in 2007; as well as another operation for 5,000 kilograms in 2008. He is also accused of lying to US Customs officials saying that he never committed a crime.
In December 2020, the FGR secured three properties of Genaro Garcia in Mexico: one in the Jardines en la Montaña neighborhood, Tlalpan City Hall, Mexico City; one more in the Pedregal de las Fuentes subdivision, Jiutepec municipality, Morelos, and a third in the Paseos del Sur neighborhood, Xochimilco Mayor’s Office in Mexico City.
Also in Mexico, the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) obtained arrest warrants this year against the drug trafficker convicted in the United States, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman; the former federal Security Secretary, Genaro García Luna, and the former commander of the Federal Police, Luis Cárdenas Palomino, for their probable participation in the 2009 controlled operation for the intrusion of weapons into Mexico, known as Fast and Furious.
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