Brooklyn judge gives Mexico’s former top cop 38 years for taking millions in bribes from drug lord ‘El Chapo’

Former Mexico apical bull Genaro Garcia Luna, who took millions successful bribes to bash the bidding of El Chapo’s Sinaloa cartel, was sentenced to much than 38 years down bars Wednesday successful Brooklyn Federal Court.

“Aside from your pleasant demeanor and your articulateness, you person the aforesaid benignant of thuggishness arsenic El Chapo. It conscionable manifests itself successful a antithetic way,” Judge Brian Cogan said earlier hitting him with a 38-year, 4-month sentence.

Garcia Luna, 56, was convicted aft a four-week trial successful Brooklyn past twelvemonth connected charges helium abused his authorization provided the cartel with everything from intel connected erstwhile raids would instrumentality spot to constabulary uniforms and instrumentality to assistance them get the precocious manus successful clashes with rivals.

The justice blasted Garcia Luna’s agelong database of instrumentality enforcement awards, which his defence lawyer presented successful a bid to get a 20-year minimum. “That does not determination maine due to the fact that that was your cover,” helium said. “You cannot parade a bid of awards, I deliberation determination are 30 awards… and say, ‘I americium constabulary serviceman of the year.'”

Prosecutors were asking for beingness successful prison.

Garcia Luna headed Mexico’s Federal Investigation Agency, oregon AFI, from 2001 to 2006, earlier helium became the country’s caput of nationalist security, a occupation helium held from 2006 to 2012.

Prosecutors called Garcia Luna the cartel’s “most invaluable asset” astatine the trial, and said helium worked for druglord Arturo Beltran Leyva, past his cousin, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who took implicit the cartel successful a bloody civilian warfare successful the precocious 2000s. Guzman was convicted and sentenced to beingness positive 30 years in 2019.

“He did each this portion knowing that thousands of Americans and Mexicans were dying from cause overdoses and cartel-related violence, and helium bears work for those deaths,” national prosecutors wrote successful a missive to Cogan filed Sept. 19.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Saritha Komatireddy said the Sinaloa Cartel couldn’t person existed without assistance from Garcia Luna’s corruption.

“In galore ways, the suspect is not the aforesaid arsenic Chapo. He’s worse. He enabled Chapo to exist,” she said.

Garcia Luna maintained his innocence passim the trial, saying successful a prepared statement, “I person not committed immoderate of these crimes.”

AP / Elizabeth Williams

In a courtroom sketch, Genaro Garcia Luna is pictured astatine his proceedings past year. (AP / Elizabeth Williams)

“Today’s sentencing of Genaro Garcia Luna is simply a captious measurement successful upholding justness and the regularisation of law,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said Thursday. “His betrayal of the nationalist spot and the radical helium was sworn to support resulted successful much than 1 cardinal kilograms of lethal narcotics imported into our communities
and unleashed untold unit present and successful Mexico.”

In a missive to Cogan, Garcia Luna pleaded for leniency, extolling his virtuous upbringing and describing himself arsenic a a tireless force of coercion and cause trafficking. He blamed the condemnation connected “the mendacious accusation provided by the existent authorities of Mexico and the transgression witnesses.”

Garcia Luna’s lawyer, Cesar de Castro, unsuccessfully tried to person the blameworthy verdict tossed, alleging respective of the government’s witnesses colluded with each different to perjure themselves and providing an affidavit from a Metropolitan Detention Center inmate who heard the program to framework Garcia Luna, who was awaiting proceedings successful the Brooklyn jail.

When prosecutors investigated the inmate’s claims, they learned that Garcia Luna offered to wage different inmates to corroborate the tale, Cogan said successful a ruling August.