Lucio R. for Borderland Beat
There will be no jury trial in the Alfredo Beltran Leyva trial. He filed with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, a waiver of right to jury trial, and pleads guilty to trafficking cocaine and meth.
Beltran Leyva, known by his moniker “El Mochomo”, was accused of being a kingpin, or leader of Beltran Leyva Organization (BLO), a charge he still contends is not factual. In court before Judge Richard Leon, he declared “I was a member, not a leader”.
In the hearing he did admit to being a part of BLO, and to trafficking drugs for 12 years, through the year of 2012. This includes the years of 2008-2012, when he was incarcerated in a Mexican Prison.
Mochomo was extradited to the U.S. in November 2014.
The case against Mochomo was stacked with cooperative witnesses, 6 of whom are heavy narco hitters, Margarito Flores, El Rey Zambada, La Barbie Villareal Valdez, La Grande, Margarito Flores and a Colombian Juan Carlos “Chupeta” Ramirez. There appeared to be little in substantive evidence against the defendant. But, in a U.S. court, jurors would have little or no knowledge of the narco world and perhaps with an abundance of witnesses (11) testifying, getting an acquittal would have been too much a gamble.
"For decades, Alfredo Beltran Leyva helped to lead one of the world's most notorious drug cartels, causing widespread violence and disrupting lives," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement.
He faces a possible 10 to life sentence. (click on image to enlarge)
