Sentence postponed until October

UNITED STATES.- The hearing in NY for to sentence Genaro García Lunaformer federal Secretary of Public Security of Mexico, was postponed.

At the request of the defense of former Mexican Secretary of Security Genaro García Luna, the judge Brian Coganof the Eastern District Court of New York postponed the sentence until October 9.

On May 31, attorney Cesar de Castro submitted a request to Cogan to postpone the sentencing date, originally scheduled for June 24. Cogan responded affirmatively on Tuesday.

In his letter, De Castro asked to change the date to the week of September 16 or 23, for three reasons:

1) That the motion filed by the defense to request a new trial for García Luna is pending due to the existence of new evidence that would exonerate him after he was found guilty in February 2023 of corruption and drug trafficking crimes.

2) That the attendance report has not yet been released and that, when it is released, the defense will need time to review it and be able to respond.

3) That García Luna’s defense does not have enough time to adequately prepare for the sentence. This last point has to do with the fact that De Castro represents businessman Fred Daibes, co-defendant in the corruption trial against Democratic Senator Bob Menéndez, which is taking place in the court of the Southern District of New York.

The prosecution had already expressed its opposition to a retrial of García Luna and even accused him of offering money to prisoners in the New York prison where he is being held, so that they would give false testimony in his favor.

The former Secretary of Security between 2006 and 2012 was found guilty in February 2023 of four crimes related to corruption and cocaine trafficking that could carry a life sentence, and a fifth crime of giving false testimony to the United States authorities when he applied for nationality, by denying having committed any crimes at the time he did so.

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