Gordo Failed To Renegotiate His Deal So He Could Stay in the US, His Deportation Is Imminent

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Ismael Zambada Imperial, alias “Mayito Gordo”, the son of El Mayo, allegedly tried to renegotiate the deal he had already made with federal authorities so that he could remain in the US. This attempt reportedly failed and now his deportation back to Mexico is imminent.

Meanwhile, Mayito Gordo’s legal team is rushing to file an amparo that would guarantee he cannot be arrested upon re-entry into Mexico.

Failed To Renegotiate His Deal, Wants To Stay in US

As previously covered by Socalj, Mayito Gordo left a medium-security US prison on July 21, 2022. He was expected to be deported back to Mexico on July 27, through a border crossing in Tijuana, in the state of Baja California.

Mayito Gordo was taken, by the US immigration agency ICE, to the San Diego Metropolitan Correctional Center, which has been used in the past to temporarily hold federal inmates such as José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa, alias “El Chino Ántrax”.

Mayito Gordo was then taken to another holding facility, this time to Adelanto Detention Facility in San Bernardino, California. Adelanto is an immigration center which is run by a private prison company, the GEO Group. 

Now, Mayito Gordo’s expected deportation date of July 27 has passed and he has not returned to Mexico. So, what’s the hold up? One potential explanation is that Mayito Gordo is trying to renegotiate the terms of a deal he made with the US. Vice News wrote that:

“Sources told VICE World News he’s fighting to stay in the U.S. rather than face deportation back to Mexico. 

[...] 

‘He is looking to break a deal with the DOJ [Department of Justice] to get [legal immigration] status to stay in the U.S.,’ said a federal law enforcement source who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press.” 

But Mayito Gordo’s attempts to renegotiate his deal evidently failed because at 1:17 am on July 27, 2022, Vice News journalist Keegan Hamilton gave an update that: 

“Mayito Gordo was just told his deportation is imminent, he's on his way back to Mexico.”

 

His Legal Team Files For A Guarantee He Won’t Be Rearrested

Here’s another potential reason for the deportation delay: during these attempted renegotiations, Mayito Gordo may have asked the US to postpone his deportation until his legal team is able to get a Mexican judge to guarantee Gordo will not be re-arrested upon re-entry by Mexican authorities. 

Now, this is a real concern because just recently Eduardo Arellano Félix, another cartel figure, was sent back to Mexico after he served out time in a US prison but as soon as he crossed the border, the Mexican government re-arrested him. For more details on the rearrest of Eduardo, please see this previous story. 

Although it's not known if the US agreed to delay his deportation based on a request such as this, it is known that on July 27, 2022, an amparo lawsuit was filed on Gordo’s behalf at the federal courts in Tijuana. 

According to Zeta Tijuana, this amparo was submitted by a person identified as Aristeo A. R. and it formally requested that Gordo receive a legal guarantee that he will not be arrested. 

It claims Gordo is owed this guarantee based on “the well founded fear” that authorities will “institute criminal proceedings against him without any legal or constitutional basis, and then transfer him to some geographical point of the country, where he will be tortured, applying cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment,” and thereby violate his constitutional rights. 

This sort of legal claim is commonly used by cartel figures. For example Alfredo Arzate González, alias “El Aquiles”, made exactly this same request on January 14, 2020. For more details on Aquile’s attempt to get an amparo, as well as the attempts of El Flaquito, La Rana and El Max, please see this previous story.  

It's likely his legal team has considered making this asylum claim, since it's predicated on the very same premise they are using for their amparo case in Mexico.

The state Attorney General Carpio Sánchez spoke to reporters, saying that Mayito Gordo had no criminal record in Baja California, which essentially guarantees that state-level authorities (like the FGE) will not attempt to arrest him.

Video Source: Marco A. Flores for Zeta Tijuana

The Attorney General said “He is not, legally-speaking, a target of ours. He is not a person who we have suspected in other investigations or the subject of an investigation himself. We know the information that is publicly discussed, of course, but he does not have any previous convictions or criminal charges in Baja California.”

However, federal-level authorities (like the FGR) have not publicly stated the same and they are the ones that Gordo is more likely to be concerned about. The Attorney General also said, on July 26, that the state has not been notified by the US of the deportation of Mayito Gordo.

Sources: El Sol de Tijuana, Zeta Tijuana Article 1, Article 2,  Keegan Hamilton Tweet, Vice News Article, Zeta Tweet, AFN TIjuana