United States | News & Politics

On Wednesday, a federal judge in New York will sentence Genaro García Luna, Mexico’s former drug czar, following his conviction for drug trafficking and continuing a criminal enterprise—and an architect of the Bush-era torture program is coming to his defense.

As a former cabinet level official and Mexico’s former “top cop,” García Luna collaborated closely with U.S. law enforcement agencies, all while receiving at least $274 million in bribes to help facilitate the Sinaloa Cartel’s cocaine trafficking operations. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking a life sentence for García Luna; his attorney is asking for a sentence of 20 years. Late on Tuesday, he submitted a letter to the judge asking for a lenient sentence, and to be allowed to return "as soon as possible" to his family and to society.

Yet García Luna still has friends in high places. In mid-September Jose Rodriguez, the 31-year CIA veteran who helped develop and cover up the agency’s torture program during the War on Terror, submitted a letter on his behalf. Typically, defense attorneys submit such letters from those who know the convicted individual and seek to argue for a lighter sentence. In his letter, Rodriguez describes García Luna as a “visionary” who wants only to help Mexico, and suggests that Mexico’s left-wing government may have “framed” him.