Lawyers for drug lords and sexual abuse suspects are one step away from becoming judges in Mexico

The results of the judicial election in Mexico have sparked controversy due to a handful of highly questionable winners. At least 13 candidates who were chosen in a direct vote by citizens have backgrounds that could jeopardize their victory. The candidates in question have been exposed by experts, electoral advisors and social organizations for their ties to organized crime, fuel theft, trafficking, torture, harassment, femicide, sexual violence and malpractice in public service. Even so, all 13 are just one step away from becoming federal and local judges and magistrates following Mexico’s overhaul of the judiciary from an appointment-based system to one of direct vote by the people.

The vote to fill over 2,600 positions took place on June 1 with a very low turnout of 13% of eligible voters. The system is unprecedented— only a handful of countries elect judges by popular vote, and none do so at all levels of the judiciary, as is the case in Mexico. The initiative had little political consensus. The ruling party, Morena, and its allies were virtually the only political parties that supported the judicial reform.

Now that the voting is done, the candidates to fill posts at the federal level only have two filters to go through: the National Electoral Institute (INE) and the Electoral Tribunal.

One of the most controversial cases involves Hernán Vega Burgos. This lawyer won a local magistrate position in the Superior Court of Justice of Yucatán and is accused of protecting a trafficking and sexual exploitation ring in his state during his term as delegate of the National Migration Institute in 2009. Two women, originally from Costa Rica, accused Vega Burgos of charging them a fee for prostitution. The daily La Jornada reported on the statement of one of the alleged victims: “If we refused, Hernán threatened to rape us and deport us.” The lawyer has maintained that he is the victim of a fabricated crime by the State Attorney General’s Office. His victory could still be overturned by the local electoral body, which has not submitted the evidence.

In another controversial case, Silvia Delgado, a former lawyer for the imprisoned drug lord Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán, has won the local election in Chihuahua. Delgado received a majority vote from the Chihuahua State Electoral Institute on Wednesday. This puts her one step closer to becoming a criminal judge for the Bravos judicial district, which covers three municipalities in the state. The Electoral Tribunal, the final court in electoral matters, will have the last word.

Meanwhile, Héctor Ulises Orduña has won the position of district judge in Veracruz while behind bars. The candidate has been in pretrial detention for almost two months, accused of sexual abuse of minors and child pornography. The incidents date back to 2021. The accused allegedly indecently touched his underage niece. His status is uncertain. Guadalupe Taddei, president of the INE (National Institute of Statistics and Census), has said that the case is being investigated since there is no final court sentence yet. However, she has confirmed that, while he remains in prison, he will not be eligible for a certificate proving he received a majority of votes.

Another name on the list of controversial candidates is Jaime Cisneros. He was voted to become circuit magistrate in Nuevo León, even though he faces accusations of harassing students while teaching at the state university. This and two other cases have been presented by Councilor Carla Humphrey, who proposed not to provide him with the majority certificate, although her proposal was rejected by a majority vote. Sergio Díaz, a candidate for magistrate in the Monterrey Regional Court, and Genaro Antonio Valerio, aspiring to be a civil magistrate in Sonora, are the other cases reported by the councilor. The former is accused of being a child support debtor, and the latter has various complaints of workplace harassment, sexual harassment, and abuse of power. All three victories could still be suspended by the INE.

Among the most high-profile names are those of members of the evangelical church La Luz del Mundo, whose leader, Naasón Joaquín, has been convicted in the United States of child sexual abuse. They are Madián Sinaí Menchaca Sierra, daughter of Bishop Nicolás Menchaca, legal counsel for the sect’s spiritual leader and current leader of the congregation; and Eluzai Rafael Aguilar, lawyer and daughter of Samuel Rafael Quintana, minister of worship at the same church. The trio is completed by Salma Jaanai Martínez Macías, who won the election for federal criminal judge for Coahuila, supported by members of the religious group. The cases are still in the hands of the INE.

Irlanda Gabriela Pacheco Torres is preparing to assume the position of district criminal judge for the Iztapalapa mayor’s office in Mexico City. However, at the time of her registration as a candidate, she was subject to a six-month suspension. The aspiring judge was accused of procedural fraud and use of false documents, according to local media reports. Furthermore, until a couple of months ago, the criminal lawyer allegedly served as the lawyer for Luis Erick Barajas García, alias El Trompas, an alleged member of the Unión Tepito gang, arrested in July of last year. The criminal lawyer’s victory is in the process of being certified. The INE (National Institute of Statistics and Census) will decide in the coming days the validity of 464 magistrate positions and 386 courts.

Another case involves Alejandra Lozano Maya. Accused of torture, sexual abuse, and extortion, she won the election to become a local criminal judge for Mexico City. She was an agent of the State of Mexico Prosecutor’s Office for two decades and was twice accused of committing arbitrary detentions and torture, which led to the opening of two investigation files against her, according to an investigation by Animal Político. Lozano has received her majority certificate, and any possible setback to her appointment now lies in the courts.

Norma Alicia Sandoval Torres has received the most votes for criminal judge in Baja California. Sandoval was dismissed as a public prosecutor in 2017 for allegedly fabricating evidence against four people arrested for drug trafficking. She is followed by Tania Contreras, who won a position as a local magistrate in Tamaulipas and, due to her votes, is poised to preside over the Plenary Session of the State Supreme Court of Justice. The Tamaulipas native is accused of being the link between the state executive branch and a network of corruption, bribery, and fuel theft trafficking within the Customs Agency, according to a report by the organization Defensorxs. Contreras has already received her certificate, which places her case in the hands of the courts.

To the handful of candidates of dubious origin, another batch of candidates has been added who fail to meet the minimum academic requirement of a score of eight in their bachelor’s degree and a score of nine in their field of specialty. Nearly 40 candidates have managed to win without meeting the minimum academic qualification requirement, according to electoral advisors. This has once again put pressure on the INE, which has taken a few days to review that the eligibility profiles before sending out the majority certificates. This opens a window to thwart the appointment of questionable judges.

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