Photo: ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images
The prosecutor’s office NY leading the case against the former Mexican Secretary of Public Security Genaro Garcia Luna accused of drug trafficking, denounced on Wednesday that the defense lawyers, who on July 1 asked the US justice for more time to review new materials, had embarked on a “fishing expedition” for evidence and requested that their request for postpone the judicial process is rejected.
“The defense must not be allowed to delay sentencing and take part in a year-long fishing expedition,” the prosecution said in a letter to Judge Brian Cogan, who is presiding over the case.
Genaro García Luna is accused of accepting millions of dollars to allow the notorious sinaloa cartel operate with impunity while sending tons of cocaine to the US, when he held the position of Secretary of Public Security in the cabinet of Felipe Calderón.
García Luna’s lawyer, César de Castro, asked Cogan last week to extend until December 15 the deadline for the defense to file motions with a view to a possible repetition of the process.
De Castro argued that he needs time to review new “relevant” materials to probably request a repeat trial against the former official, convicted of drug trafficking this year.
After the verdict, the defense had until April 7 to file motions, but the lawyer asked for an extra three months to review “new favorable evidence” provided by “law enforcement officers” from Mexico and the US, among others. people, and now he is anticipating the expiration of that term to redouble his arguments, requesting a new extension.
De Castro said in his request that “as more people learn about the nature of the evidence against Mr. García Luna, even more former officials” are providing “information that they believe could have been useful to the defense at trial.”
Specifically, in the last month, the lawyers of the former Secretary of Public Security have received “thousands of pages of material, audio and video files” that they had “never seen”, but De Castro qualifies that most of them are in Spanish, so that the team’s language limitations are “delaying” your review.
“We understand that this cannot be an open-ended process, however the materials we have received are directly relevant to the case and many are law enforcement materials,” De Castro said.
If this new request for postponement is accepted, the sentencing date, scheduled for September 27, could be pushed back to March 1, 2024.
The prosecution asks Cogan to deny the defense’s request and underscores García Luna’s team of lawyers had more than three years to speak with witnesses, issue subpoenas and investigate possible defenses.
In addition, it maintains that it has not offered any type of information about the “alleged witnesses” or about the provenance of the new documents and evidence received.
García Luna, 54, was found guilty in February of participating in the direction of a criminal enterprise whose activity continues to this day, conspiracy to distribute 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, conspiracy to distribute and possess 5 kilograms or more than cocaine with the intent to distribute it in the US and conspiracy to import the same amount or more.
The fifth offense was that of giving false testimony to the US authorities when he applied for citizenship.
For any of the first four charges, you could be sentenced to life in prison.
Keep reading:
– Genaro García Luna asks to change the sentencing date to 2024 by claiming to have additional evidence
– Prosecutor who led a team against Genaro García Luna now works at the DEA
– Judge postpones sentence to Genaro García Luna; The defense claims to have evidence in favor in the case of links with the Sinaloa Cartel