New York
CNN
—
Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former public security secretary and architect of its deadly and protracted war on drugs, was found guilty in federal court in New York on Tuesday of taking bribes from the drug cartels he had sworn to combat, the US Attorney’s Office said.
The former Secretary of Public Security in Mexico, who served from 2006 to 2012, was convicted by a federal jury in Brooklyn on five counts of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, including international cocaine distribution conspiracy, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute cocaine, conspiracy to import cocaine and making false statements, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
He is the highest-ranking current or former Mexican official ever tried in the United States.
His trial before US District Judge Brian M. Cogan, who also oversaw the trial of former Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, lasted four weeks. The Court of the Eastern District of New York jury announced the verdict after 15 days of hearings and having heard the testimony of 27 witnesses.
García Luna, 54, pleaded not guilty to all charges and can appeal the ruling.
He will be sentenced June 27. He faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years’ in prison and a maximum of life behind bars.
“Garcia Luna, who once stood at the pinnacle of law enforcement in Mexico, will now live the rest of his days having been revealed as a traitor to his country and to the honest members of law enforcement who risked their lives to dismantle drug cartels,” Breon Peace, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said in a statement.
Sumber: www.cnn.com
