However, in a 16-page document released on Wednesday, the investigating judge of the case, Brian Coganstated that “none of the arguments are sufficient for a new trial” and therefore “denies” the request presented by García Luna’s representatives.
“Much of the ‘new evidence’ consists of facts known or accessible to the defendant before the trial,” the document stated, in which the judge dismantles each of the defense’s allegations. Others “lack substance,” he justified.
After being postponed several times, the verdict is scheduled for 9 October.
García Luna, 56, was found guilty by a jury in a New York court in February 2023 on five charges, including international cocaine trafficking. This charge could lead to him spending the rest of his days in jail.
According to the New York prosecutor’s office, García Luna protected the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquín ‘Chapo’ Guzmán, sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States, in exchange for million-dollar bribes to be able to send drugs to the neighboring country.
A resident of the United States since leaving the Mexican government in 2012, García Luna was arrested in Dallas, Texas, in December 2019.
His name came up at the trial of “El Chapo” in New York in 2018
Another founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, 76, was arrested in the United States on July 25 when he landed in a private plane at an airfield in the town of El Paso, Texas.
On board the plane was Joaquín Guzmán López, son of “El Chapo,” who was also arrested in the operation.
According to the Mexican government, the arrest of “El Mayo” was due to an agreement between Washington and the son of his former partner, who pleaded “not guilty” to drug trafficking last week in a Chicago court, where he will be tried.
The Mexican government has also requested the United States to extradite García Luna for embezzlement of public funds.
