Mexican former state governor to be tried for organized crime
JULY 23, 2017 / 12:10 AM / A DAY AGO
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A former state governor from Mexico's ruling party will stand trial for engaging in organized crime and handling funds of illicit origin after a judge reviewing evidence approved the case, the attorney general's office said on Saturday.
Javier Duarte, who until 2016 governed the Gulf coast state of Veracruz for President Enrique Pena Nieto's Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), has been accused by the opposition of siphoning off millions of dollars during his six-year tenure.
On Monday, Duarte was extradited to Mexico from Guatemala, where he was captured in April after spending months on the run. He has denied any wrongdoing. Some doubts had surfaced in the past few days about the strength of the case against him.
However, after presenting 82 pieces of evidence in hearings on Saturday, the attorney general's office said in a statement that the judge gave prosecutors six months to proceed with the investigation against 43-year-old Duarte.
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Duarte, sitting with Mexico’s President, Enrique Peña Nieto.
