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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
Boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. to stand trial in Mexico over alleged | |
cartel ties | |
By Associated Press | |
Updated: | |
5:01 AM EDT, Sun August 24, 2025 | |
Source: AP | |
A judge in Mexico said boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. will stand trial | |
over alleged cartel ties and arms trafficking, but could await that | |
trial outside of detention, the boxer’s lawyer said. | |
Chávez’s lawyer, Rubén Fernando Benítez Alvarez, confirmed that | |
the court imposed additional measures and granted three months of | |
further investigation into the case. | |
He described the claims against his client as “speculation” and | |
“urban legends” following the court hearing on Saturday in the | |
northern Mexican city of Hermosillo. | |
If convicted, Chávez — who took part in the hearing virtually from a | |
detention facility — could face a prison sentence of between four and | |
eight years, Alvarez said. | |
Chávez, 39, who had been living in the United States for several | |
years, was by federal agents outside his Los Angeles home for | |
overstaying his visa and providing inaccurate details on an application | |
to obtain a green card. The arrest came just days after a fight he had | |
with famed American boxer Jake Paul in Los Angeles. | |
Since 2019, Mexican prosecutors have been investigating the boxer | |
following a complaint filed by US authorities against the Sinaloa | |
Cartel for organized crime, human trafficking, arms trafficking and | |
drug trafficking. | |
The case led to investigations against 13 people, among them Ovidio | |
Guzmán López — the son of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El | |
Chapo” Guzmán — along with some collaborators, hitmen and | |
accomplices of the criminal organization. Guzmán López was arrested | |
in January 2023 and extradited to the US eight months later. | |
Following the inquiry, the Federal Attorney General’s Office issued | |
several arrest warrants, including one against Chávez. | |
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum said Chávez was wanted since | |
2023 in Mexico, but that he wasn’t detained because he spent most of | |
the time in the US. | |
“The hope is that he will be deported and serve the sentence in | |
Mexico,” Sheinbaum said in July. | |
The boxer, who is the son of Mexican boxing great Julio César Chávez, | |
and handed over to agents of the Federal Attorney General’s Office in | |
Sonora state, who transferred him to the Federal Social Reintegration | |
Center in Hermosillo. | |
The high profile case come as the Trump administration is pressuring | |
Mexico to crack down on organized crime, canceling visas of notable | |
Mexican artists and celebrities and ramping up deportations. | |
Chávez has struggled with drug addiction throughout his career and has | |
been arrested multiple times. In 2012, he was found guilty of driving | |
under the influence in Los Angeles and was sentenced to 13 days in | |
jail. | |
He was arrested last year for weapons possession. Police reported that | |
Chávez had two rifles. He was released shortly afterward upon posting | |
$50,000 bail, on the condition that he attend a facility to receive | |
treatment for his addiction. | |
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