Overview

• Judge Oscar Padilla granted a final adjournment to November 13 to allow defense and prosecution to explore plea agreements and warned that further postponements will incur fines
• None of the four accused—Jesús Gerardo, Irineo Francisco, Ángel Jesús and Ari Gisell—has yet entered a plea to charges ranging from aggravated homicide to violent robbery
• Prosecutors remain divided over whether the victims were first kidnapped, prompting Padilla to consolidate the forced disappearance count into the overall indictment despite the unresolved legal theory
• Court records show Jesús Gerardo and Irineo Francisco were transferred last August to the El Hongo maximum-security prison following suspicions of links to the Sinaloa Cartel
• Ari Gisell faces incitement-to-robbery charges and potential 32-year sentencing demands while her defense argues for an eight-year term under a plea deal