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| Subject: El Chapo's drug cartel paid $6 million in bribes to current Mexico president Peña Nieto, defense lawyers claim Sun Nov 18, 2018 6:11 pm | |
| A key witness at the trial of accused Mexican drug lord Joaquin (El Chapo) Guzman will testify that he paid $6 million in bribes to the country’s current president, lawyers said in Brooklyn Federal Court.
Jesus Reynaldo (Ray) Garcia Zambada is expected to say he paid the $6 million to Enrique Peña Nieto at the behest of his brother, Ismael (El Mayo) Zambada, the alleged current leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, court transcripts made public Friday show.
Defense lawyers argue that Guzman was scapegoated in a vast conspiracy orchestrated by his business partner El Mayo — who they say is the true leader of the cartel. Current and former presidents of Mexico and corrupt U.S. drug agents helped El Mayo in the scheme, Guzman’s lawyers claim.
During a private conference Wednesday that included the prosecution, defense lawyers and Judge Brian Cogan, Guzman’s attorney William Purpura portrayed his client as a victim. He said El Mayo ran amok, while his partner, El Chapo, was unjustly forced into hiding.
“Mr. Guzman is on the run, with a target on his back, in the mountains. And that is who the Mexican government is targeting [at] that point,” Purpura said.
Defense lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman added: “Mayo Zambada kept paying the Mexican government, president after president, two in a row, and somehow he remains free. And who is the one that's constantly being hunted down? It's Guzman.”
“(Government officials) were paid off to leave Zambada alone,” Lichtman said.
https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-news-chapo-bribe-mexico-president-20181116-story.html
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