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 News from Around the Americas | August 2006 
US May Seek Death Penalty for Accused Drug Lord
 Associated Press
| | This image provide by the Department of Justice shows accused drug kingpin Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, in DEA custody as he arrives in San Diego, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2006. (AP/DOJ) |
San Diego, CA - The federal government may seek the death penalty for the accused kingpin of one of Mexico’s oldest and most notorious drug cartels, a prosecutor said Monday.
Francisco Javier Arellano Felix, 36, did not seek bail during his second court appearance in five days. He pleaded not guilty last week to racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances and money laundering.
Laura Duffy, an assistant U.S. attorney, said the government may seek new charges against Arellano Felix that would allow for the death penalty or life in prison if he is convicted. She did not elaborate on the possible charges at a hearing before U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns.
Arellano Felix currently faces a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison under a 2003 indictment that accused him and others of moving tons of Colombian cocaine and Mexican marijuana to the United States and involvement in a string of assassinations or plots, U.S. authorities said.
Last week, Mexican Attorney General Daniel Cabeza de Vaca said Mexico would seek Arellano Felix’s extradition to Mexico, but perhaps not until he had been tried and sentenced for crimes in the United States.
Arellano Felix, dressed in an orange jumpsuit and shackled at his wrists and ankles, gave one-word answers in Spanish to procedural questions at the bail hearing Monday. He was captured by the U.S. Coast Guard last week off the coast of La Paz, Mexico, aboard the U.S.-registered sport boat Dock Holiday.
Seven other men aboard the yacht were arrested and taken to the United States last week, including Arturo Villarreal Heredia, whom U.S. authorities said was a high-ranking figure in the Tijuana-based Arellano Felix cartel. On Monday, Burns ordered the release of one, Luis Raul Jiminez Toledo, who will be returned to Mexico. The other six, who have not been charged with any crime, are being held as material witnesses.
Burns rejected a request to release Francisco Javier Mesa Castro after the defendant’s attorney, Andrew Nietor, said his client was only a crew member aboard the fishing boat.
The others ordered held were Cesar Niebla Lerma, Juan Pedro Romero Fiol, Edgar Omar Osorio and Jose Luis Betancourt Espinoza. Authorities had previously identified Niebla Lerma as Marco Villanueva Fernandez and Romero Fiol as Ernesto Gonzales Fimbles.
John Kirby, a former federal prosecutor in San Diego who worked on the 2003 indictment, said Arellano Felix took over field operations after his older brother Benjamin was jailed in Mexico in 2002 and brother Ramon was killed that same year.
Another brother, Eduardo Ramon Arellano Felix, remains at large. According to Kirby, he has exited the day-to-day operation of the cartel.
“Javier was basically anointed to head things while Benjamin was in jail, and with that pipeline gone I don’t see that anyone else is there to take his place or to head off inroads by other cartels who want to operate in Tijuana,” Kirby said. |
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