Julio César Chávez Jr. will face trial for alleged links to the cartel
A Mexican judge has ruled that boxer Julio César Chávez Jr. will go to trial on charges related to alleged links to organized crime. However, his lawyer, Rubén Fernando Benítez Álvarez, reported that the boxer could await trial on bail. The lawyer confirmed that the court announced additional measures and granted three more months of investigation in the case. These statements were made after a court hearing in Hermosillo, a city located in northern Mexico. Chávez Jr., who had been residing in the United States for several years, was arrested on July 2 by federal agents outside his home in Los Angeles. The arrest occurred for exceeding the duration of his visa and for allegedly lying on an application to obtain a green card. This arrest occurred a few days after a fight with the renowned American boxer Jake Paul in Los Angeles. Since 2019, the Mexican prosecutor’s office has been investigating the 39-year-old boxer, following a complaint filed by US authorities against the Sinaloa Cartel for organized crime, human trafficking, arms trafficking, and drug trafficking. After nearly a month and a half in detention, Chávez Jr. was deported on August 19 and handed over to agents of the Attorney General’s Office in the state of Sonora, who transferred him to the Federal Social Readaptation Center in Hermosillo. The case led to investigations against 13 people, including Ovidio Guzmán López, son of convicted drug trafficker 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 United States eight months later. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum stated that Chávez Jr. had been wanted in Mexico since 2023, but he was not arrested because he spent most of his time in the United States.This high-profile case has drawn attention at a time when pressures to combat organized crime are intensifying, including the cancellation of visas for Mexican artists and celebrities, and the increase in deportations. The life of the son of Julio César Chávez, one of the most popular and successful boxers in Mexico, has been marked by scandals throughout a career lived in the shadow of his father. Chávez Jr. has struggled with addictions to various drugs for much of his career and has been arrested on multiple occasions. In 2012, he was found guilty of driving under the influence in Los Angeles and sentenced to 13 days in jail. In early 2024, he was arrested for weapons possession. Police reported that Chávez Jr. had two rifles. He was released shortly after posting a $50,000 bail, with the condition that he attend a center for addiction treatment.The hope is that he will be deported and serve his sentence in Mexico.
Claudia Sheinbaum
