Item 1/3 Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former public security minister, was sentenced in Brooklyn, New York, to more than 38 years in prison for accepting bribes from the drug cartels he was supposed to be fighting. stand before a district judge. York City, USA, October 16, 2024 Courtroom Sketches. Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
(1/3) Mexico’s former public security minister Genaro García Luna was sentenced in Brooklyn federal court to more than 38 years in prison for accepting bribes from the drug cartels he was supposed to be fighting. stand before the judge. New York City, USA, October 16… Purchase license rights opens in a new tab Read more
NEW YORK, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Genaro García Luna, who for years has led Mexico’s fight against the violent drug trade, was charged in the United States on Wednesday with accepting bribes from the cartels he was supposed to be fighting. He was sentenced to more than 38 years in prison. .
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan announced the decision during a hearing in Brooklyn federal court.
Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for García Luna, 56, who was found guilty at a trial in February 2023 of engaging in a criminal drug enterprise, participating in various conspiracies, and making false statements. was.
They allege in a Sept. 19 court filing that García Luna accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa cartel, once led by Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, in exchange for It said it protected its members from arrest and secured shipments of cocaine.
In announcing the 460-month sentence, Cogan said there was “a light at the end of the tunnel” for Garcia Luna, and praised his work as a mentor to fellow inmates at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center. I admitted it. But the judge said Garcia Luna was leading a “double life" that did more harm than good.
“Aside from your very pleasant demeanor and clear language, you have the same kind of ferocity that El Chapo had, just in a different way,” Cogan said.
García Luna served as Mexico’s Minister of Public Security from 2006 to 2012.
His lawyer, Cesar de Castro, argued that Cogan should receive a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, noting that Cogan has already spent nearly five years in prison since his arrest in 2019. suggested that it should be declared.
The defense argued at trial that former members of the Sinaloa Cartel who cooperated with prosecutors and testified against Garcia Luna improperly implicated him in an effort to reduce their own sentences. was.
Before learning of the verdict, Garcia Luna told the court that the Mexican government and criminal organizations had slandered him.
“I did not commit any of these crimes,” he said. “I’m not the person the culprit is pointing to.”
Guzman was convicted on drug charges in 2019 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado.
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Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Bill Berkrot
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