MIAMI.- Mexican national Sandra Ávila Beltrán, also known as "The Queen of the Pacific" will be tried on March 25 of 2013 in a Miami federal court charged with conspiracy to distribute cocaine; her defense will try to bring the date forward.
"We will request hearings and wait for the trial to start in early 2013, not until March," stated today Stephen G. Ralls, one of the attorneys of the "Queen," charged in the US of two crimes: conspiracy to import cocaine and possessing drugs with the intent of distribution.
In a short hearing last Friday, Ávila Beltrán pleaded not guilty of the two charges against her, although according to the extradition treaty with Mexico, and in line with her defense, the United States can only impute her with the second charge.
The defense of "The Queen of the Pacific," 51 years old, explained that the Attorney General's Office had requested to the court a period of six months to study the documents in their possession, an excessive amount of time for Ralls.
"It's not necessary for her (Ávila Beltrán) to be kept for so long in jail. We will ask the judge to bring forward the date from March (of 2013) to the beginning of the year," he added.
For that, the Mexican's defense has asked the Attorney General's Office to hand over immediately the "telephone recording" that allegedly implicates their client in the distribution of 100 kilos of cocaine in the United States, as well as "documents regarding the investigation and information about the charge" of cocaine possession with the intent of distribution.
"We defend her innocence and we claim there are no proofs" to charge her with that crime, only a "telephone recording and a sole witness, the informant who talked with her in 2001" about the alleged 100 kilos of cocaine distributed in the US.
Her defense emphasized that "not one gram of cocaine was confiscated in the United States" of the alleged shipment, so they will "tell the jury we are right, that Ávila Beltrán is innocent and the necessary evidence to find her guilty does not exist," he insisted.
"The Queen of the Pacific," who inspired the Spanish author Arturo Pérez Reverte's novel "The Queen of the South," is in police custody for the risk of flight she presents.
Ralls explained that Mexico extradited his client to the United States under a treaty by which the US authorities can only prosecute her for the second charge.
In line with that, the United States is not authorized by the Mexican Government to charge her with the first crime (conspiracy to import cocaine), and that is how it appears in the official document, says the attorney.
Since she doesn't have a criminal record in Mexico, her sentence could be greatly reduced if she is found guilty, he added.
According to the US investigation, Ávila Betrán "coordinated, stored and moved the cocaine shipments in Mexico to then import them to the United States."
The General Attorney's Federal Office of the Southern District of Florida accused her and six other people of drug-related crimes in the US back in 2004.
Five of the suspects have already pleaded guilty and have received a sentence while the other one is on the loose.
Ávila Beltrán, born in the Mexican state of Baja California, was detained in September of 2007 and charged by the Mexican General Attorney's Office of introducing a number of cocaine tons in 2002 with her romantic partner, Colombian Juan Diego Espinosa, also known as "The Tiger."
Editorial@sandiegored.com
Translation: Karen.balderas@sandiegored.com
