He entered limping, escorted and guarded by four agents who did not lose sight of him at any time. He was dressed in a khaki prison uniform, with long hair and a long, gray beard. He seemed physically diminished, although he was also surprisingly smiling and at times, dazed. This is what it looked like this Friday Ishmael May Zambada in his first hearing with Judge Brian Cogan, the same one who condemned Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán and former secretary Genaro García Luna. The 76-year-old capo did not utter a single word in court and clung to a hearing aid placed in his left ear to follow the criminal case against him. The hearing lasted only about 15 minutes and was held amid tight security measures in Brooklyn courthouse, New York. Cogan, protagonist of the United States judicial offensive and scourge of Mexican drug traffickers, recognized the complex nature of the case and said that he was eligible for the imposition of the death penalty due to the seriousness of the accusations against the co-founder and boss of bosses of the Cartel. from Sinaloa. El Mayo is scheduled to appear again on January 15.
The Eastern District Court of New York was packed and expectations were enormous. A metal detector arch was placed outside the room, where dozens of journalists, security agents and US officials gathered. Four elements of the United States Marshals Service with olive green polo shirts and unfriendly faces were in charge of transporting the boss through the corridor that connects the dungeons where the accused remain with the court. At least three other armed officers were deployed to monitor members of the public, who looked in all directions and covered all angles inside the venue. “Ok, we’re ready,” said one of Cogan’s assistants for El Mayo to enter, exactly at eleven fifteen in the morning.
The elusive drug trafficker, who did not set foot in prison in more than five decades of criminal career until his capture on July 25 in New Mexicohe made his way calmly and smiled as he greeted his lawyer, Frank Pérez, the man he trusted. The image of the drug trafficker has changed drastically compared to the photo that was leaked after his arrest at the rural Doña Ana airport. The thin mustache and dyed black hair that characterized him are left behind. Now, long locks of gray hair cover his head and a pronounced bald spot a few centimeters above the nape of his neck. He has a thick white beard, and the shape of his nose, the object of an obvious rhinoplasty, draws a lot of attention. His health has been one of the most debated points surrounding the figure of El Mayo, after the DEA assured earlier this year that he was ill.
“Everyone stand up,” a voice ordered, announcing Cogan’s entry immediately afterwards. El Mayo adjusted the glasses that he was wearing folded at the collar of his shirt and looked expectantly at the man who has his destiny in his hands. “Sit down, please,” said the judge with a solemn air as he took his place at the highest part of the court. The accused kept his head turned towards the robed man, who, on the other hand, practically did not turn to look at him. Zambada didn’t look particularly worried or nervous, but he seemed to have trouble following the technical aspects of the case, which dominate this part of the judicial process. In these hearings, the judge is in charge of conducting practical issues such as the handling of sensitive information or the deadlines for presenting evidence and the requirements for it to be included in the file. They are known as “status conferences,” in which both parties report on the status of the procedure and the issues they have to clarify in view of an eventual trial. The possibility of the case going to trial or not is the main unknown. Zambada rose from his seat once again as Perez introduced the three-person defense team.
The Prosecutor’s Office was the first to speak. Authorities filed a motion this week to warn of a conflict of interest surrounding Zambada’s attorney. Frank Pérez also represents Vicente Zambada Niebla, alias VincentilloEl Mayo’s son who was outlined to be his successor and ended up becoming a protected witness for the United States authorities. Vicentillo’s testimony was decisive in the fall of El Chapo, sentenced to life imprisonment in October 2019. The point is that if the case goes to trial and if he is called by prosecutors, Zambada Niebla would be obliged to testify against his own father.
“I don’t know what he expects of me,” Cogan complained to the head of the Prosecutor’s Office. “You can’t send me a letter on a Wednesday night and expect me to resolve this in two days, there isn’t enough time,” he complained. “Why do I wait so long? “This is something I knew from day one,” he added, annoyed. Always tough and strict, Cogan’s scolding made the possibility of resolving the mess around El Mayo’s lawyer in this hearing disappear in a matter of seconds. Despite the conflict of interest, Zambada can decide to stay with Pérez, signing a waiver of rights and recognizing that his legal representative has conflicting obligations with respect to his own son. For now, another lawyer has been appointed to advise the boss on his rights and the possibility of changing his defense. Confused, to a certain extent, El Mayo pressed the receiver against his ear to try to hear the interpreter better.
Another item on the agenda was the possibility of the Prosecutor’s Office requesting that El Mayo be punished with the death penalty. Capital punishment has been abolished in New York since 2004, following a ruling by a federal appeals court. The law, however, considers exceptions for certain “capital offenses” such as murders, genocides or political assassinations. The accusation against El Mayo is fundamentally the same as that faced by El Chapo, although it covers events that occurred from the late 1980s until this year. Last February, authorities included charges of trafficking fentanyl, the drug at the center of the United States’ war on drugs and which causes tens of thousands of deaths each year in that country. If Zambada is considered responsible for the opioid epidemic sweeping the United States, prosecutors could seek such a punishment. It will be one of the issues that will be discussed in the coming months.
“Does the defense have anything to say?” Cogan asked. “Nothing, your honor,” Pérez responded. The judge left the courtroom when the clock was about to strike eleven thirty in the morning, under the silent gaze of El Mayo. Zambada stood up and spoke for a few seconds with his lawyer, who patted him on the back before officers took him back to the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center, where he has been held since last September. The boss smiled again, despite the fact that his future is uncertain. After the conviction against El Chapo and the sentence against García Luna of 38 years in prison, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel officially became the new protagonist in the new battle that the United States is fighting in its courts.
