Storm clouds in the case of former secretary of security of the government of Felipe Calderon (2006-2012), Genaro García Lunawho this Wednesday March 20 will have his last opportunity to regain freedom.
If the case became complicated, it is made even more so by an 86-page file in the hands of the United States Attorney’s Office, which explains a alleged bribery by García Luna to a fellow prisoner.
The former police chief has been imprisoned in the United States since 2019, for drug trafficking, organized crime and false statements. On February 21 of last year, García Luna was found guilty of five charges. During his trial he was accused of having ties to the Sinaloa cartels and Beltrán Leyva.
García Luna’s defense asks to repeat the trial
During the last few months, Genaro García Luna’s defense has given ‘drowning kicks’ in the request to repeat his client’s trial.
He lawyer César de Castro, who is leading the case, appeals that the United States Attorney’s Office limited the former official by persecuting him politically. Furthermore, he denied that García Luna offered money to his cellmate to argue that the drug traffickers who testified against him did so to harm him.
It was last December, when for the first time The defense of the former official demanded a new trial in New York. De Castro assured that he had several pieces of evidence that exonerated his client.
The evidence was testimonies from those close to him; official agendas to establish where García Luna was at key moments in the case; confidence control tests; personal messages from the former secretary; detailed reports on the Pegasus spy programand other documents.
The period granted by the Judge Brian Cogan was until March 20, to argue why the process against García Luna should be repeated. A few hours before that time expires, the lawyer has insisted that a new trial be held.
Former Secretary of Security offers bribes to cellmate
García Luna’s case is moving firmly towards a concrete wall. The United States Attorney’s Office has indicated that it has an ‘ace up its sleeve’ to leave forever García Luna in a prison.
According to documents he has, The former Secretary of Security would have tried to buy his freedom when the trial against him ended.
An anonymous confidant of the prosecution, and García Luna’s cellmate, revealed in detail how the Mexican asked him to contact another prisoner to testify that He DevilHe Wolf and the Tiger, They agreed on what they would say at trial.
The three alleged criminals testified in the process about the ties of the former police officer and the drug cartels, as well as the money he received for protecting drug traffickers.
García Luna was betrayed by his own partnerwho with the help of a cell phone recorded the conversation of the official offering him 2 million dollars for ‘the favor’.
When is García Luna sentenced?
In February 2023, García Luna’s trial ended. Judge Brian Cogan found the former official guilty on five counts. His sentencing was scheduled for September. of that same year.
However, the judge changed the day and requested that the final sentence be made this March. The last date established by the authorities in the US was June 24. The maximum penalty could be life imprisonment, or the minimum of 20 years in prison.
