Genaro García Luna, the disgraced ex-Mexican Security Chief, will be sentenced on Wednesday, more than a year after a Brooklyn federal court jury found him guilty of conspiring with the Sinaloa Cartel, participating in a criminal enterprise, and making false statements to U.S. authorities. He faces a possible life sentence or a minimum of 20 years in prison.
García Luna's legal team has argued that a 20-year sentence would be sufficient, citing the toll taken on his personal life and reputation. They have submitted 19 letters from family, friends, and former colleagues in support of a reduced sentence.
Additionally, his lawyers had requested that he be allowed to wear civilian clothes during the sentencing, a request that has been granted, according to La Opinión.
The sentencing has been delayed several times, the original date being June 27, 2023. In fact, as recently as August of 2024, García Luna's team was holding on to hopes of a new trial after an alleged plot among inmates to falsely testify against García Luna was uncovered.
However, judge Brian Cogan, who previously sentenced drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, rejected the petition, alleging that the arguments put forward by the defense team did not justify such a request, highlighting instead an attempt by García Luna to bribe a witness with amounts ranging from $500,000 to $2 million to fabricate favorable testimony.
García Luna's sentencing marks the culmination of a high-profile case that has exposed deep ties between Mexico's security apparatus and drug cartels. Back in September, García Luna accused Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his associates of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.
"It is public knowledge and documented in the official records of Mexico and the U.S., the contacts, videos, photographs, communication, and management records between the current President of Mexico, Andrés López Obrador, and his associates with drug cartel leaders and their families," claimed García Luna in his four-page letter.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum commented on García Luna's sentencing, emphasizing that the focus should be on his involvement with the drug trade, rather than procedural matters like his attire, as Infobae reports:
"The underlying issue is how someone, even though they were awarded by U.S. institutions, someone the former president (Felipe) Calderón spoke highly of, is now imprisoned in the U.S. because it has been proven they were linked to drug trafficking. That is the central issue. That a war against drug trafficking was led by someone who is now known to have been connected to the drug trade."
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