Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Mexican police official accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa cartel, will be arraigned today in Brooklyn. Not clear yet if there will be bail arguments. But it’s Garcia Luna’s 1st appearance in NY after his arrest in Dallas last month.
Garcia Luna will be presented in Brooklyn at around 2 PM and will almost certainly plead not guilty. Bail arguments are likely to put over until at least next week. Those will be important b/c Garcia Luna may reveal the state of his finances during them.
US officials used Garcia Luna's finances as part of their charges against him, saying last month that he had amassed a fortune "inconsistent" with a civil servant in Mexico.
Garcia Luna's mere presence as a defendant in a US federal courtroom is itself a stunning turnabout for a man once lionized as Mexico's top crime-fighter. A former DEA agent who worked closely w/ GL recently told me that he used to call GL the "J. Edgar Hoover of Mexico."
After leaving public service Garcia Luna moved to Miami and opened a security firm, GL & Associates Consulting (sometimes rendered GLAC LLC.) He named several top U.S. law enforcement & intel officials on his website but many of them have now said they never did any work for GL.
Garcia Luna's post-government life in Miami remains a bit mysterious and some light on it may be shed as further hearings, especially those concerning bail, are held.
So far the charges against Garcia Luna involve bribe-taking & drug conspiracy. The evidence against him stems in part from testimony from Rey Zambada, brother of Mayo Zambada, partner of Chapo Guzman. Rey testified at Chapo's trial to giving GL suitcases w/millions of $.
But there is more. This fall the US govt unsealed testimony from another cartel operative, Sergio Villareal Barragan who once worked for Guzman's friend-turned-enemy, Arturo Beltran Leyva. Villareal implicated Garcia Luna & others in the murder of a US informant in Colombia.
Villareal, who was in charge of corruption for Arturo, said that other top Mexican police officials leaked the name of the informant to the cartel. Among them: Ramon Pequeno, Luis Cardenas Palamino and Francisco Javier Palacios, who worked for the federal police in Bogota.
Villareal, nicknamed El Grande for his size, almost testified at Chapo's trial as well. We'll have to see if his testimony against Garcia Luna's police cronies goes anywhere with US federal prosecutors...But these others are certainly on the radar of the US govt.
Garcia Luna's arraignment is over. He pleaded not guilty & was sent back to jail as his lawyers work on a bail package. He looked wan & a bit disheveled appearing in a grey sweatshirt and khaki pants. His wife and 2 kids were in the audience, his son tapping his chest at him.
The prosecutors suggested they are working to resolve the case w/o going to trial though that's fairly routine for criminal matters. Next hearing is on Jan. 21.
Nothing new on the charges. Prosecutors asked to detain Garcia Luna because of his "extensive personal fortune," his travel to Mexico as recently as Nov 2019 and his connections to high ranking Mexican officials. Prosecutors said Garcia Luna was an "unacceptable risk of flight."
