Overview

• Judge Mariana Vieyra Valdez of the Third Federal Court in Toluca issued the absolution on July 31 and ordered his immediate release from the Altiplano prison.
• Vallarta Cisneros endured almost two decades in preventive detention without ever receiving a sentencing decision on charges tied to the Los Zodiaco kidnapping ring.
• The Fiscalía General de la República retains the right to appeal the verdict but lacks authority to delay Vallarta’s departure from custody.
• The case spotlighted a 2005 AFI operation that was later admitted to have been re-created for television, undermining the integrity of the arrest.
• United Nations bodies documented procedural violations and indications of torture during Vallarta’s prolonged imprisonment, fueling calls for judicial reform.