FGR investigates four judges for crimes against the administration of justice

Gustavo Castillo Garcia

Newspaper La Jornada
Sunday March 5, 2023, p. 5

The Attorney General of the Republic (FGR) integrates investigation folders for crimes against the administration of justice against federal judges Gustavo Aquiles Villaseñor, Felipe de Jesús Delgadillo Padierna, Roberto Omar Paredes Gorostieta and Femat, as well as Faustino Gutiérrez Pérez, for having issued resolutions in favor of defendants such as Rosario Robles Berlanga, Ramón Sosamontes, four lawyers accused of engaging in influence peddling in collaboration with the former legal adviser to the federal Executive Branch Julio Scherer Ibarra and the former governor of Tamaulipas Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca.

Federal officials revealed that the area of ​​Juan Ramos López, head of the Special Prosecutor for Jurisdiction Control, one of the men closest to Alejandro Gertz Manero, is the one in charge of integrating the files against federal judges, considering that in its resolutions incurred in violations of article 225 of the Federal Penal Code.

The legislation establishes that between crimes against the administration of justice is the one indicated in the sixth fraction of article 225: Knowingly issue a substantive resolution or a final judgment that is unlawful for violating any strict precept of the law or being contrary to the proceedings followed in court or failing to issue a procedural or substantive resolution or a lawful final judgment, within of the terms provided in the law.

The sources consulted indicated that the inquiries against the judges refer to the possibility of filing an accusation for the content of the seventh section of the same article: Execute acts or incur in omissions that cause damage or grant someone an undue advantage.

The file against judge Delgadillo Padierna began in May 2022, after the justice administrator decreed that he was not involved in the process against the litigants Juan Antonio Araujo Riva Palacio, César Omar González Hernández, David Gómez Arnau and Isaac Pérez Rodríguez, for the crimes of criminal association, influence peddling, extortion and operations with resources of illicit origin.

In addition to criticizing the judge’s actions through a press release, prosecutor Manuel Granados Quiroz announced in a radio interview that he would initiate the investigation file against Delgadillo Padierna.

On February 2, the FGR assured, on its Twitter account, that will appeal and initiate an investigation folder for crimes against the administration of justice by public servantsspecifically against Judge Gustavo Aquiles Villaseñor, for having exonerated Ramón Sosamontes, a former collaborator of Rosario Robles, for his alleged participation in the diversion of 203 million pesos assigned to the secretariats of Social Development (Sedesol) and Agrarian and Territorial Development and Urbano (Sedatu), in events that occurred between 2012 and 2018.

In press release 056/23, dated February 2, the FGR noted: Given the reference agreement, which offends the law and the proper administration of justice, this institution will give a hearing to the Federal Judicial Council (…) and will immediately initiate an investigation folder.

As regards Judge Roberto Omar Paredes Gorostieta and Femat, on February 24 he complied with an amparo ruling issued by the ninth collegiate court in criminal matters and considered that Robles Berlanga had to face an administrative procedure.

The FGR questioned the decision and announced that for this reason not only the administrative complaint is initiated, but also the corresponding criminal procedure against him.

On February 28, the eighth district judge in the state of Tamaulipas, Faustino Gutiérrez Pérez, annulled the arrest warrant issued against the PAN member and former governor of Tamaulipas Francisco Javier García Cabeza de Vaca, who was accused of the crimes organized crime and money laundering.

The FGR considered, in communication 109/23, that the role of judge would have been transformed into that of an agent of the defendant’s defensetherefore, he added, the legal actions that could be carried out in relation to the authority that issued it will be analyzed.