César de Castro, the key man in the defense of Genaro García Luna

Who is Cesar De Castro?

According to the law firm that bears his name, De Castro is “an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on criminal defense, corporate investigations, commercial litigation and appellate litigation.” In this 2023, he has to lead the defense team of Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security of Mexico accused of being linked to the Sinaloa Cartel.

The lawyer, who regularly works in federal courts in New York, boasts in his career of having successfully defended high-profile clients, “including a full acquittal in the largest tax shelter prosecution in United States history.”

The defender studied at New York Law School and Pennsylvania State University. In his career, he has served as court clerk and prosecutor. His client in turn, Genaro García Luna, could face life imprisonmentif the prosecutors manage to prove that he received bribes from drug traffickers and with that he collaborated in the transfer of drugs to the United States, where thousands of people die every year from overdoses.

“We are going to trial, there is no offer on the table,” De Castro told the media on Tuesday. “I can only consider what they told me. The government is calling their witnesses, so… the estimated time is eight weeks,” he added. His client, Genaro García Luna, stated that he never received any money from the Sinaloa cartel.

Twenty years prior to coming to the attention of the Mexican media, De Castro served as a law clerk in the Office of Staff Attorneys for the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where he received the 2002 Sustained Excellence Award. He was later an Assistant District Attorney under Robert M. Morgenthau in the New York County District Attorney’s Office.

The litigant has conducted long-term investigations “into organized criminal activities, including the corporate corruption, political corruption, bid rigging, schemes to defraud and money laundering”, according to information from the law firm he heads.

Among the achievements that he highlights on his official page, is having successfully negotiated with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office “for a reduction of a felony charge to rape for a retired police officer.”

In 2018, his firm represented an accused international hitman at the federal prosecutor’s office in court. He has been in charge of defending people who have faced the death penalty. De Castro also represented “a high-ranking bank executive against fraud charges for allegedly helping United States taxpayers evade taxes.”

On his official page, his team introduces themselves as “the super lawyers.” They are dedicated to federal criminal defense, state criminal defense, appellate litigation, witness representation, civil litigation, asset forfeiture…

César, who leads the team, is an adjunct professor at New York Law School, where he teaches a course titled “Investigating, Prosecuting, and Advocating Today’s White Collar and Organized Crime Cases.”

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“From 2004 to 2010, he taught first-year law students the fundamentals of legal writing, including writing appellate briefs and oral defense,” his firm’s page states.