“Char” for Borderland Beat
This article was translated and reposted from RIODOCE
AUGUST 25, 2024
The kingpin would face harsher charges if transferred to the Brooklyn courthouse in New York, where El Chapo was sentenced.
If transferred to New York, Ismael el Mayo Zambada would have to cede an estimated $14 billion and hope that prosecutors would not be so severe in charging him with trafficking fentanyl, a synthetic opiate that in 2021 caused the deaths of more than 105,000 addicts in the United States.
That would be one of the reasons why the defense opposes Zambada Garcia’s transfer to New York, and that he would instead face justice in a court in the Western District of Texas, which is currently hearing his case, and where it is not clear whether the drug lord would have a similar amount confiscated, and he certainly does not face charges for fentanyl trafficking, although he does face charges of murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, criminal association, money laundering and illegal possession of a firearm.
Another element that the New York court does not have is that he would not face Brian Cogan, one of the fiercest judges in the United States, who sentenced Joaquín el Chapo Guzmán to life imprisonment plus an additional 30 years during the so-called trial of the century.
For that reason, Zambada Garcia’s defense filed a motion on Friday last week, a day after prosecutors requested his transfer to Brooklyn, that the kingpin not be taken to that district, but be tried in Texas, where he has faced charges since 2012, while in New York he was only charged a few months ago.
“There is no justification for the transfer to be applied as requested, since he does not argue why he should be transferred from the court in Texas, which has an ongoing case against him since April 2012, while the court in New York dates from February 2024,” says Frank Perez, Zambada Garcia’s lawyer.
According to Perez, the U.S. Government is inadmissibly seeking to remove his client from the Western District of Texas based on an inadequate and unsubstantiated initial appearance request, without explaining why this decision applies in this particular case, nor citing other cases that establish why they want to transfer him.
“For the foregoing reasons, Mr. Zambada Garcia respectfully requests that the Court dismiss the Government’s motion for initial appearance and stay of the speedy trial provisions in Texas,” reads the defense motion.
As noted in docket number 3:12-cr-00849, the indictment includes Chapo Guzman, and 22 other individuals, who allegedly worked as hitmen, commanders and coordinators to traffic drugs to the United States, such as cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamines, and formed a front to fight against the Juarez Cartel, which then had Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, the Viceroy, as its leader.
“The group led by Zambada Garcia and Chapo Guzman, had as its armed wing cells of hitmen known as Gente Nueva, Los Mexicles, Los Dobles A, and Los Artistas Asesinos, who carried out homicides, torture, kidnappings, and all kinds of violent activities in Ciudad Juarez and El Paso Texas, in addition to engaging in all kinds of drug trafficking,” reads the file, filed in a federal court in the Western District of Texas.
Unlike the case filed in New York, where only Zambada Garcia is charged, in the Texas case the indictment is a joint indictment, which makes the sentence less severe because there are 24 defendants, and all of them played an undetermined role.
In both courts Zambada Garcia could face the death penalty, if so requested by prosecutors, although according to experts it is unlikely to happen, because of the age of the defendant, because, although he faces murder charges, it is not seen that he could be sentenced to death for that charge, but for drug trafficking, mainly for trafficking and manufacture of fentanyl.
Other charges that Mayo will face in Brooklyn court include racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, money laundering and various drug trafficking offenses, including trafficking cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine into the United States.
Until last year, the DEA had only charged Los Chapitos, as the only criminal group to traffic fentanyl, until, in February of this year, it included Zambada Garcia in the indictment. The New York court assures that the drug lord amassed billions of dollars in profits, and therefore estimates that he must pay 14 billion dollars to repair the damage done to US society.
Article published on August 25, 2024 in issue 1126 of the weekly Ríodoce.