“Socalj” for Borderland Beat
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| Former DEA Chief of International Operations, Mike Vigil, ruled out that the absence of La Barbie in the United States Federal Bureau of Prisons is due to an administrative error. |
According to Vigil, among the cases for which La Barbie could contribute as an informant is the one carried out against the former head of the Ministry of Public Security, Genaro García Luna, in addition to other pending trials in US courts. Édgar Valdez Villarreal was arrested in 2010 by elements of the Mexican Ministry of Public Security and was designated by the then president, Felipe Calderón, as one of the most wanted criminals in Mexico and abroad.
“La Barbie” had asked his lawyer, Kent A. Schaffer, to expedite extradition to the United States to negotiate a reduction in his sentence in exchange for offering information. As of September 15, 2015, the date he was extradited to the US along with 12 other drug traffickers, his legal strategy was to reach agreements to obtain a reduced sentence and plead for clemency as a US citizen Tried in the Northern District Court of Georgia, in Atlanta, on January 6, 2016, “La Barbie” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import and distribute cocaine, as well as to launder money. La Barbie was sentenced in 2018 to 49 years in prison.