United States: Ovidio Guzmán pleads not guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering

Ovid Guzmanone of the sons of the Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmánthis Monday he pleaded not guilty to the five charges he is accused of in the District Court of Chicago (USA), among them drug trafficking It is money laundryindicated the North American media.

Also known as “the mouse” He is accused of conspiring to distribute drugs, being part of a criminal enterprise, exporting narcotics to the United States, carrying out financial transactions with funds from Illegal activities and use and transport illegally firearms.

READ TOO: Ovidio Guzmán was extradited on the same plane as his father: what sentence awaits him?

Guzmán was extradited to U.S in Mexico last Friday and this was his first court appearance since then.

The diary The Chicago Tribune published that he was presented with an orange prison outfit and ankle shackles. He listened to the session through an interpreter, but addressed the judge punctually, sharon johnson coleman in English.

If convicted, two of the charges carry the life imprisonment. According to that local newspaper, as part of the extradition negotiation with the Mexican authorities, the death penalty was excluded.

The room prohibited phones and other electronic devices at this hearing and had a strong police presence, with “at least” eight officers surrounding the defendant and near the door, he explained. The Chicago Tribune.

His next court appearance is scheduled for next November.

Guzmán was one of the most wanted drug traffickers in the washington for your participation in the traffic of fentanyl and was arrested by Mexican authorities last January.

In April of this year, the United States Court filed charges in three different federal districts against him and three of his brothers for allegedly assuming leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel following the arrest and subsequent extradition of his father to USA

The Sinaloa cartel, according to the US, is the organization drug dealer “most powerful in the world” and largely responsible for the production and manufacture of fentanyl for distribution in U.Swhere this drug, considered 50 times more powerful than heroin, is “the leading cause of death among Americans ages 18 to 49.”

Guzmán’s arrest, on January 5, occurred days before the visit to Mexico of the American president, Joe Bidenon the occasion of North American Leaders Summitalthough the Mexican presidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador, then denied any relationship between the two events.

This Monday, López Obrador He stated that the extradition was carried out so as not to give pretexts of “politicking”For the United States, which has its next presidential elections scheduled for November 2024.

“It is important that no reason is given to those who use the issue of drug trafficking for political purposes in U.S. There are two themes that are used a lot when there are elections in U.S: the thing about drug trafficking and the migration“, said the Mexican president in his morning press conference.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.