US Judge Reduces Sentence To 10 Years For Former Nayarit Prosecutor, Edgar Veytia, For Testifying Against García Luna

"Sol Prendido" for Borderland Beat

A few days after the end of Holy Week, “the Devil” Veytia was awarded. This Wednesday morning, Judge Carol Bagley-Amon reduced the sentence of the former Nayarit prosecutor, Edgar Veytia, by 10 years, to whom she herself had imposed 20 years in September 2019, after he participated as a witness in the trial against Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Public Security during the Felipe Calderón government.

The prosecutor's office that prosecuted the former Nayarit prosecutor argued that not only was he an exemplary witness in the trial against García Luna, but he also "provided substantial information to prosecute Salvador Cienfuegos and was a potential witness" in a "possible trial against the General." .

Edgar Veytia benefited from Rule 35 by providing “substantial assistance” in the cases of García Luna and Salvador Cienfuegos.

With this “correction”, the accused will be released from prison in 2027 instead of 2034, as had been established almost five years ago.

With a lump in his throat, with his mother, wife and children present, Veytia asked the judge for “clemency” and said he was making an effort “to continue on the right path.”

Although in a hearing held on October 31, prosecutor Ryan Harris accepted that the review of Veytia's sentence was subject to García Luna's sentence being handed down, they no longer wanted to wait until June 24 when the former Secretary of Public Security will hear his sentence.

Role of the former Nayarit prosecutor in the García Luna case

During the trial against García Luna, Edgar Veytia detailed episodes of his criminal career. He said that as a prosecutor (2013-2017) during the administration of the now detained Roberto Sandoval, he received up to 2 million pesos a month, allegedly from Juan Francisco Patrón Sánchez, alias El H2, and Daniel Silva Garate, alias El H9, who controlled the Nayarit plaza on behalf of the Beltrán Leyva family.

He explained that under his administration as prosecutor “the pozoles” began to appear in different areas of the city and state. “And what are pozoles?” asked the prosecutor who was interrogating him. Veytia responded: “Buckets with dismembered bodies, heads, legs, arms, into which they put pozole grains.”

More than once during his testimony, he recalled that El Chapo Guzmán employees approached him to try to “buy the plaza,” but he always rejected the offers “because we had a commitment with the Beltráns.”

Genaro García Luna, former Secretary of Security.

He declared that under the orders of El H2, both he and members of the corporation in charge of him carried out crimes, torture, looting, kidnappings, fires, false reports, attacks or seizures in Nayarit.

He expressed that there came a time when El H2 stopped having power, so he himself planned to first kidnap, then torture and then murder that criminal leader “with the authorization of the governor and coordinating with federal forces.”

He admitted that the Beltrán Leyva tried to execute another leader, whom they called “El Paisa”, but failed. When that character was in the hospital, Leyva ordered the police in charge of him to leave the hospital so that other gunmen could finish him off.

Witnesses and victims of the dispossession in Nayarit during the Sandoval/Veytia regime of terror have expressed fear at the presumed release of the former prosecutor, whom for these and other actions they began to call “El Diablo.”

Judge Bagley-Amon seemed disgruntled at today's hearing. She claimed to prosecutors that she had just heard requests for a life sentence against Veytia and now requests to release him.

“Our client is not like other criminals,” Veytia's defender wanted to intercede, but the judge interrupted him: “but his client ordered people to be killed!”

Finally, and although the judge was not convinced by both parties who advocated an early release, she did end up rewarding Veytia with a substantial reduction.

Former prosecutor Veytia's battle to reduce his sentence

A week after his 20-year sentence, issued on September 26, 2019, former Nayarit prosecutor Edgar Veytia began a long legal battle to regain his freedom and announced that he would appeal the process and sentence.

Although Veytia withdrew that initial appeal, in March 2021 he sent a letter to the “case manager” asking for information about his case.

Specifically, he demanded “data records of your passage through U.S. soil, copies of questionnaires used to gather information from outside sources against you, and others demonstrating that you visited, entered, crossed any state line, or had contact with the state of New York, or sworn statements confirming that he was ever seen in the state, including recordings indicating that he was filmed or videotaped with some confidential source that showed that he conducted business in New York with controlled substances," as stated in the indictment.

In June 2021, Veytia again wrote to court employees asking for “a copy of the discovery evidence against him” that, by June 2017 court order, the government should have presented to him.

Finally, on August 2, 2021, Veytia filed Motion 2255 to attempt to vacate or correct his sentence. Since then, the judge asked the US government for evidence as to why she should not grant the former prosecutor's request, but as far as is known, this never reached his desk.

Motion 2255 is a remedy to which all prisoners are entitled and seeks to challenge several things: from the jurisdiction of a federal court to hand down a sentence, the validity of a sentence for being contrary to federal law, the validity of a sentence for being contrary to the Constitution of the United States, or the validity of the length of the sentence imposed, especially when it exceeds the guidelines and thus violates the constitutional rights of a defendant.

In Veytia's case, his claim seemed to focus on the fact that the court that tried him did not have jurisdiction, or at least could not prove it to him (which makes it even more strange that he agreed to plead guilty) and hence his claims that he prove that he had committed a crime specifically in New York.

In a video sent to this reporter this Wednesday, Virgen Veytia, mother of the former Nayarit prosecutor, said she did not agree with the judge's decision, since she considered that 2255 was already ready, because Jeffrey Litchman, who was for a time defender of Veytia, had also been hired to work under the orders of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, incurring a conflict of interest.

“Judge Bagley-Amon conditioned my son to say that she would withdraw 2255 to cover the corruption of prosecutors, Attorney Litchman, herself and the corruption of the court.”

At today's hearing, Veytia asked to be transferred to a jail near the New York area, where his family now resides.

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