NEW YORK -- A former Mexican presidential cabinet member was convicted in the U.S. on Tuesday of taking large bribes to protect the violent drug cartels he was tasked with combating.
Under tight security, an anonymous New York federal court jury deliberated for three days before reaching a verdict in the drug trafficking case against ex-Public Security Secretary Genaro Garcia Luna.
He is the highest-ranking current or former Mexican official ever to be tried in the United States.
"Garcia Luna, who once stood at the pinnacle of law enforcement in Mexico, will now live the rest of his days having been revealed as a traitor to his country and to the honest members of law enforcement who risked their lives to dismantle drug cartels," Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace said in a statement.
Garcia Luna, who denied the allegations, headed Mexico's federal police and was later the country's top public safety official from 2006-12. His lawyers said the charges were based on lies from criminals who wanted to punish his drug-fighting efforts and get sentencing breaks for themselves.
His lawyer, Cesar de Castro, said the defense planned to appeal.
"The government was forced to settle for a case built on the backs of some of the most notorious and ruthless criminals to have testified in this courthouse," de Castro said outside court.
Garcia Luna, 54, was convicted on charges that include engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. He faces at least 20 years and as much as life in prison at his sentencing, set for June 27.
The case had political ramifications on both sides of the border.
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has railed throughout the trial against ex-President Felipe Calderon's administration for, at a minimum, putting Garcia Luna in charge of Mexico's security. Lopez Obrador spokesperson Jesus Ramirez tweeted after the verdict that "justice has come" to a Calderon ally and "the crimes committed against our people will never be forgotten."
Garcia Luna's work also introduced him to high-level American politicians and other officials, who considered him a key cartel-fighting partner as Washington embarked on a $1.6 billion push to beef up Mexican law enforcement and stem the flow of drugs.
The Americans weren't accused of wrongdoing. Although suspicions long swirled around Garcia Luna, the trial didn't delve into the extent of U.S. officials' knowledge about them before his 2019 arrest.
Lopez Obrador has, however, pointedly suggested that Washington investigate its own law enforcement and intelligence officials who worked with Garcia Luna during Calderon's administration.
Ex-smugglers and former Mexican officials testified that Garcia Luna took millions of dollars in cartel cash, met with major traffickers and kept law enforcement at bay.
Garcia Luna didn't testify at the trial, although his wife took the stand in an apparent effort to portray their assets in Mexico as legitimately acquired and upper-middle-class, but not lavish. The couple moved to Miami in 2012 and he became a consultant on security issues.
The trial was peppered with horrific reminders of the violence those drugs fueled.
There was testimony about police officers being slaughtered and drug-world rivals being dismembered, skinned and dangled from bridges as cartel factions fought each other while buying police protection.
Testimony also aired a secondhand claim that Calderon sought to shield Sinaloa cocaine cartel kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman against a major rival. The former president called the allegation "an absolute lie."
Garcia Luna was arrested after allegations of his graft emerged at Guzman's high-profile trial about four years ago.
Information for this article was contributed by Maria Verza of The Associated Press.