Overview
- A federal hearing at Reclusorio Norte before magistrate Ángela Zamorano Herrera paused at 2 p.m. and is set to resume at 4 p.m. on November 19 to hear witnesses from the Attorney General’s Office.
- Duarte’s legal team seeks release roughly five months before his sentence ends, citing good conduct and the legal threshold of time served.
- The defense contends administrative steps could free Duarte within hours if the court grants the petition.
- Prosecutors oppose early release, arguing it could interfere with pending legal proceedings, and the defense denies allegations of special treatment or alcohol use in prison.
- Duarte, a former Veracruz governor, was detained in Guatemala in 2017, extradited to Mexico the same year, and in 2018 received a nine-year sentence for money laundering and organized crime.