 |
|
|
 News from Around the Americas | August 2007 
Judge Enters Innocent Plea in Mexican Drug Case
 Reuters
go to original
| | A picture taken from a video projected on a screen shows Zhenli Ye Gon, during a press conference held by his lawyers in Washington, in this file image from July 18, 2007. Ye Gon was arrested on July 23, 2007 in suburban Washington by U.S. authorities, accusing him of helping make large quantities of crystal meth, four months after Mexican police found $206 million in cash in his Mexico City mansion. (Reuters/Jason Reed) |
Washington - A U.S. magistrate entered a not guilty plea on Friday for a Chinese-born naturalized Mexican charged with conspiracy to aid and abet the making of methamphetamine he knew would be shipped to the United States.
Judge Alan Kay also ruled that the defendant, Zhenli Ye Gon, a Mexican laboratory owner, be kept in jail, pending trial, because he posed a danger to the community and a flight risk.
Ye Gon, who operated a pharmaceutical wholesale business in Mexico City, was arrested late last month in nearby Wheaton, Maryland, by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration. He then was indicted by a federal grand jury in Washington.
Ye Gon also is wanted in Mexico, where he is accused of importing through Mexican ports large quantities of chemicals used to make the powerful stimulant crystal meth.
His arrest came four months after Mexican police found more than $200 million in cash in a raid on his Mexico City mansion.
Martin McMahon, one of Ye Gon's lawyers, said during the court hearing that the charges against his client were not true. He described him as a successful Mexican businessman who had nothing to do with illegal drugs.
Another defense lawyer, Ning Ye, called Ye Gon a well-educated, law abiding citizen with no criminal record.
But U.S. prosecutor Wanda Dixon argued that Ye Gon should be denied bail and kept in jail while awaiting trial. She said the source of the money found in his home was "largely from drug trafficking."
In arguing against bail, Dixon said that Ye Gon, if convicted, could get a minimum mandatory term of 10 years and faces as much as 30 years to life in prison. |
| |
|
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us