Ovidio Guzman's Trial To Be Sealed

"Char" for Borderland Beat 

This article was translated and reposted from RIODOCE 

No one, except prosecutors and their lawyers, will have access to the evidence presented in the Chicago court; it will then be destroyed.

The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), had begun to gather evidence against Ovidio Guzmán López, el Ratón, years before his extradition, however, all the evidence gathered by DEA agents to incriminate the drug trafficker will not be disclosed as in other trials, but will be destroyed once it is reviewed by the defense.

"It will be like a closed-door trial, with the difference that there will be access to family members or the general public, but the evidence will never be seen," said sources familiar with the case.

According to a court order signed by Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, all evidence that comes to the defense, including photos, videos, audio of calls, photos of text conversations, and seized drugs, will be subject to a protective order and will be delivered before and after each hearing to the defendant's lawyers, and with the exception of official documents that the court maintains as official, this evidence will be subsequently eliminated.

"Thereafter," the motion states, "neither the defendant nor his attorneys may maintain copies or photos of the material, nor may they disclose the materials or their contents directly or indirectly to any person or entity other than persons employed to assist in the defense," the document reads.

The document clarifies that the same will occur with those who are interviewed during the preliminary hearings prior to trial, including potential witnesses and other persons whom the court may authorize to listen to the material, but no one may disclose or keep the contents of evidence, photos or audios, without prior authorization from the court, including, in the case of copies of evidence, it must be returned to the same court.

In the same way, the motion adds, the court may require a type of certification that materials retained by the defense attorney, in accordance with the restrictions of the court order, remain in effect and may not be disclosed or used in connection with any other matter.

Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested last January 5, in Jesús María, Culiacán, Sinaloa, and nine months later, on September 15, he was extradited to Chicago, where he faces charges of possession of drugs with intent to traffic and distribute them in the United States, criminal association, conspiracy to manufacture drugs, money laundering, and illegal possession of firearms for the exclusive use of the military.

Two days after being extradited, Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, and Judge Johnson Coleman scheduled a new preliminary hearing for November 17, 2023.

Jeffrey Lichtman has said that his defendant is encouraged and determined to confront the U.S. government since he considers that there is not enough evidence against him, but that everything is based on the testimonies of protected witnesses, although for the U.S. those testimonies should be enough to put him away for the rest of his life.

Narco banners 

As a result first of Ovidio's arrest, and then after a series of operations that the USDOJ announced to go against his brothers, the Los Chapitos cartel, as some security analysts identify them today, people associated with the Guzmán brothers began to place narco mantas in Culiacán, Caborca, and Sonoyta, prohibiting the production and trafficking of fentanyl in territories controlled by them.

The prohibition would have been a consequence of the announcements made by the US government, although, in the opinion of security analysts, the measure is considered "very innocent", since it is evident that the DEA wants and it will only be a matter of time before it arrests all the Guzmán brothers.

Guzmán López is currently being held in the Metropolitan Correctional Center prison in Chicago, awaiting an eventual trial.

Article published on October 29, 2023, in the 1083rd edition of the weekly Ríodoce.

Source: RIODOCE 

Metropolitan Correctional Center prison in Chicago, IL