Former Mexican Top Security Official Sentenced to More Than 38 Years in Prison For Cartel Bribes

SEATTLE - A federal court in Brooklyn has sentenced Genaro García Luna, a former secretary of public safety in Mexico during Felipe Calderón's presidency, to more than 38 years in prison after federal prosecutors found him guilty for enabling Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán and other drug lords to operate their illicit businesses with impunity.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan sentenced García Luna to 460 months in prison and a $2 million fine for his decade-long assistance to the Sinaloa cartel. Prosecutors found him guilty of enabling the transportation of more than one million kilograms of cocaine to the U.S.

The former high-ranking official was convicted early last year of taking millions of dollars in bribes to protect the violent Sinaloa cartel. García Luna, 56, is the highest-ranking Mexican official to ever face justice in a U.S. court. Prosecutors wrote that his actions advanced a drug trafficking conspiracy that resulted in the deaths of thousands of American and Mexican citizens.

During his term as Mexico's top security official, García Luna was tasked with fighting criminal organizations such as the Sinaloa drug cartel, but prosecutors say that he instead worked alongside them. Court records indicate that, in exchange of millions of dollars, García Luna provided intelligence about investigations against the cartel, information about rivals and the safe passage of drug shipments.

In his last futile attempts to avoid a long sentence, García Luna bribed fellow inmates into making false statements to support his bid for a new trial. Prosecutors discovered his alleged jailhouse bribery efforts and disclosed them in a court filing earlier this year, citing such evidence as a former cellmate's handwritten notes and covert recording of a conversation between the cellmate and García Luna.

García Luna's sentencing could mark a watershed in the U.S's future investigations into Mexico's high-ranking officials and their relationship with drug cartels. Back in September, García Luna accused former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) and his associates of having ties to the Sinaloa Cartel.

"It is public knowledge and documented in the official records of Mexico and the U.S., the contacts, videos, photographs, communication, and management records between the current President of Mexico, Andrés López Obrador, and his associates with drug cartel leaders and their families," claimed García Luna in his four-page letter.

Earl Anthony Wayne, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico during the end of the Calderón administration and who also testified against García Luna last year, told The Times he believes the U.S. has become more cautious in collaborating with high-level officials and is taking steps "to make sure they are willing to be active participants with us in the battle against criminal groups."