Mexican judge arrested in Colombia over two-million-dollar bribe
US indictment says he freed the alleged right-hand man of former Olympic snowboarder and accused kingpin Ryan Wedding, the freed man was rearrested days later and taken to the United States
Images
globalnews.ca
Click to play video: 'Lawyer for Olympian-turned-alleged drug kingpin Ryan Wedding to remain free on bail'
globalnews.ca
A Mexican district judge has been arrested in Colombia on allegations he accepted a $2m bribe to grant bail to a man accused of acting as second-in-command to Ryan Wedding, the former Canadian Olympic snowboarder and alleged drug kingpin. Luis Benitez Alcantara, 49, was taken into custody on Sunday on a nine-count federal indictment and could face up to 15 years in prison on each count if convicted.
According to the US Department of Justice, Benitez Alcantara used his position as the district judge overseeing Andrew Clark's extradition proceedings to secure the Canadian's release. Clark, 36, is alleged to play a key role in a violent international drug trafficking ring. In February last year the judge granted him bond and ordered his release; the two million dollars were allegedly delivered the same day. Clark was arrested again days later and taken to the United States, where his criminal case is pending.
US officials say a request will be made for Benitez Alcantara's extradition, placing him inside the same legal process he is accused of selling. Clark walked out of the courtroom built to send him north; the case that followed now runs through four countries — a Canadian defendant, a Mexican ruling, an American indictment, a judge apprehended in Colombia.
The charging document puts a precise price on one courtroom decision: two million dollars, delivered the same day the release order was signed. Wedding himself was arrested in January and removed to the United States to face drug trafficking, murder and attempted murder charges; he remains in federal custody awaiting trials scheduled for March and October next year. Clark's release, the one the bribe bought, lasted days.