By Jesus Garcia
Nov 22, 2024, 10:30 AM EST
Prosecutors leading the case of Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada analyze how they will present their arguments regarding a possible death penalty sentencesomething that could be easier for them under the administration of President-elect Donald Trump.
“We are going to ask for the death penalty for his atrocious acts against anyone who sells drugs or who is caught selling drugs,” Trump said during the 2023 campaign. “Because it is the only way.”
“El Mayo” Zambada faces accusations of drug trafficking to the United Statesincluding fentanyl, which has been the center of national debate, due to thousands of overdose deaths with that drug.
During his first government, Trump maintained the death penalty at the federal levelwhen the execution of 13 people was authorized. Joe Biden’s administration did not commute prisoners on the death penalty, but no people have been sentenced to the death penalty in federal cases.
There are currently 43 federal prisoners on death row sentences, prior to the Biden Administration, who could have no problem being executed under the Trump administration.
During campaign, Trump insisted on the death penalty for drug traffickersmany of the cases are federal, like Zambada’s, who is in the Eastern District Court in New York.
“We have never had such massive amounts of drugs coming into our country,” he said during a campaign event in Arizona this year. “And, by the way, the problem will never be solved without the death penalty.”
The next hearing of “El Mayo” Zambada before Judge Brian Cogan will be on January 15, 2025, five days into the Trump administration.but his trial would begin several weeks or months later, where the influence of the new federal policy on drug traffickers would already be influenced, if it is applied as promised during the Republican campaign.
At the hearing on October 18, Judge Cogan did not want to respond to prosecutors about a request for the death penalty for the Mexican drug trafficker, arrested in El Paso, Texas, last September, after a secret operation by the DEA and others. agencies in Mexico, which has not been clarified by US authorities.
“We will evaluate that,” Judge Cogan said of the death penalty, in addition to declaring the case complex, “due to the magnitude.”
The court’s prosecutors in Brooklyn will be under the command of whoever is responsible for the Justice Department under the Trump administration, who nominated former Florida prosecutor Pam Bondi, a loyal Trump ally.
Bondi was even president of the America First Policy Institute, a think tank created by former Trump administration staffers.
Keep reading:
• Sheinbaum responds to Ken Salazar about the capture of “El Mayo”
• Prosecutor’s Office reveals conflict of interest in the defense of “El Mayo” and his son “Vicentillo”
• They reveal an alleged alliance between Los Chapitos and the CJNG to combat the people of “El Mayo”