Photo: ALFREDO ESTRELLA / AFP / Getty Images
NEW YORK.- The former Mexican Secretary of Public Security, Genaro García Luna, received a setback from Judge Brian Cogan, who rejected the motion to drop four criminal charges, in addition to revealing that there are at least 79 agents and six collaborators who would be part of the trial for drug trafficking.
Without outlining a specific position against García Luna, who led the so-called “war on drugs” in Mexico for more than 15 years, Judge Cogan states that a jury must determine if the prosecutors prove that the former Mexican official committed the crimes for which he faces accusations , after revealing his possible links with the Sinaloa Cartel.
The main argument of the defense, led by lawyer César de Castro, is that the accusations against your client are “extemporaneous”, that is to say that the accusation of 2023 contemplates events before 2019.
The defense even wanted the main accusation to be withdrawn: leading a criminal organization for a long period, since said assumption “would have expired”.
This accusation and the subsequent ones are established as “conspiracy”, that is, the prosecutors must demonstrate that the actions of García Luna and the associates of he were conspiratorial acts.
“All the Government must prove is that the conspiracy ‘did not end more than five years before the indictment was filed'”, says Judge Cogan in his decision.
The other charges are also “intentional conspiracy to distribute cocaine”, “conspiracy to distribute with the intent to distribute cocaine” and “conspiracy to import cocaine” into the United States.
The decision on these facts must be made by a jury, said Judge Cogan, who mentioned the possibility that García Luna could challenge the charge four (conspiracy to import cocaine), if you can show that you left the “conspiracy” before December of 2019.
“Mr. García Luna affirms that he withdrew from the Conspiracy when he resigned from public service in 2019 and moved to Miami,” the court document says. “There may be numerous reasons why Mr. Garcia Luna resigned from public service, but they are not unequivocally attributable to withdrawal from the Conspiracy.”
Another of the defense arguments of the former Secretary of the Government of Felipe Calderón and former federal official of Vicente Fox, is that García Luna lied to the FBI and the Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in the application for his naturalization. The judge is not leaning one way or the other and challenges federal prosecutors to show that that action had a direct connection to the other conspiracy crimes.
“The Government responds that lying to the FBI and in an application for naturalization constituted acts in support of the Conspiracy. The arguments of both parties start from a false premise”, says the judge.
Evidence and witnesses
January 9, 2019 is marked as the start date of the trial of García Luna in the Court of Eastern District based in Brooklyn, New York.
Prosecutors have amassed thousands of evidence documents, including information from the governments of Mexico, Colombia, Panama, Dominican Republic, among others, as well as information from witnesses, including audio and video about the “mini cartel” that operated in the Mexican government, as revealed.
The defense accused the prosecutors of not turning over the evidence, but Judge Cogan points out that this has been answered by the prosecutors, who have asked also some information protections, in order not to put witnesses at risk.
“The Government responds that it has already provided the defense with ‘an extraordinary volume of early material… including 11 law enforcement witnesses and six possible cooperating witnesses”, indicates the judge.
Prosecutors have also called for certain security measures for prospective jurors and have proposed a list of 80 questions to choose from the panel.