This Tuesday, the trial against the ex-secretary of Public Security began in the Eastern District Court of New York, after several dates in which it was postponed. Brian Cogan is the judge, the same one who was in charge of the legal process against Joaquín “el Chapo” Guzmán.
According to journalists who had access to the start of the trial, jury selection could be extended. Today dozens of interviews were conducted with the applicants, but the finalists have not yet been chosen.
The agency Reuters reported today that Garcia Luna, 51, presented his statement through a translator at the initial hearing in Brooklyn federal court.
In his participation, Genaro García Luna insisted that he never received bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
(Misael Valtierra/Dark Room)
García Luna is accused of conspiring for drug trafficking and making false statements in the United States, a country where he was arrested in December 2019. He is the highest-level Mexican official prosecuted by US justice.
From his position as Secretary of Public Security, García Luna was a key player in the so-called war against drug trafficking that Felipe Calderón launched.
(Third Diaz / Cuartoscuro)
“While holding high-ranking positions in the Mexican government, García Luna received millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for providing protection for his drug,” US authorities have highlighted.
In December 2019, President López Obrador considered that the capture represented “a defeat to an authoritarian regime.”
It was during the trial of Joaquín Guzmán Loera that the investigation against García Luna began. During this process, Jesús “El Rey” Zambada – brother of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, partner of “Chapo” – testified that the former security secretary and former head of the Federal Investigation Agency (AFI) received briefcases amounting to 5 million weights on at least two occasions. The money, according to the witness, was delivered by himself.
One week before the start of the process, on January 9, 400 citizens were presented in court as potential candidates to serve on the jury in the trial of García Luna, who is currently in the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, New York. .
If found guilty at trial, García Luna could be sentenced to life in prison (the maximum sentence) or 20 years in prison (the minimum sentence).
