Genaro Garcia Luna, the former Mexican security official accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa cartel, is asking the judge case in his case to release him from custody on a $1 million bond secured by real estate properties he owns. 
The lawyer claims that Garcia Luna is not a flight risk and also says that the US govt is unable to prove that the millions of dollars he allegedly took from the cartel can be traced back to Garcia Luna.
"Mr. Garcia Luna has done everything consistent w/his innocence & more importantly there is nothing to suggest he would flee the US or fail to return to this Court," the lawyer wrote.
GGL has no access to the Mexican financial system & is being investigated in Mexico, he said.
GGL has no access to the Mexican financial system & is being investigated in Mexico, he said.
This could set up a situation where a hearing is held to determine GGL's bail status. At such a hearing, the govt would likely have to lay out some of its evidence against GGL to convince the judge to keep him in custody...
Well there it is. The judge in the case, Brian M. Cogan, has just instructed the parties to set up a hearing in front of lower magistrate judge to discuss the question of release.
Nothing has been publicly scheduled yet...
Nothing has been publicly scheduled yet...
In his bond letter, the lawyer, Cesar de Castro, wrote that the govt has "cooperator corroboration" that GGL took cartel cash. We know that Rey Zambada and Sergio "El Grande" Villarreal-Barragan, a former top aide to Arturo Beltran-Leyva, have both implicated GGL in taking bribes
It is also possible--though not yet certain--that the recent indictment of Ivan Reyes Arzate, another top Mexican federal cop, could be an effort by US prosecutors to find more witnesses against GGL.
Reyes' case in its very early stages in Brooklyn now.
Reyes' case in its very early stages in Brooklyn now.
