A judge in New York has denied a motion by former Mexican Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna, convicted of drug trafficking in the United States, asking for a new trial.
Judge Brian Cogan, who is presiding over the case, said Garcia Luna’s request “fails for numerous reasons.”
“None of these arguments are sufficient for a new trial, and the defendant’s motion is accordingly denied,” the judge said.
García Luna’s sentencing is scheduled for October 9, 2024.
The former Mexican official’s request was based on the discovery of new, allegedly exculpatory evidence collected by the defense.
“Much of the ‘new evidence’ consists of facts known or accessible to the defendant before the trial,” said the 16-page document released on Wednesday, in which the judge dismantles each of the defense’s allegations.
García Luna was found guilty of five charges, including cocaine trafficking, which could lead to him spending the rest of his days in prison.
García Luna is the highest-ranking Mexican official to sit in the dock of a US court, accused of protecting Joaquín “Chapo” Guzmán’s Sinaloa Cartel in exchange for million-dollar bribes to send drugs to the United States.
A resident of the United States since leaving the Mexican government in 2012, García Luna was arrested in Dallas, Texas, in December 2019. His name came up in the El Chapo trial in 2018, in which one of the biggest drug traffickers in history was sentenced to life imprisonment in the United States.
The Mexican government, which has asked the United States for his extradition, is also demanding $700 million allegedly embezzled by the former Secretary of Public Security.
#García #Luna #denied #trial #sentencing #October
