Mexico frees official jailed in drug lord 'El Chapo's escape


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: Less than a minute

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Mexican court has ordered the release of a prison official jailed on charges of abetting the 2015 escape of drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman."

The Attorney General's Office did not give details on the court ruling in favor of Leonor Garcia, the ex-legal director of the top-security Altiplano prison.

But the office said Saturday it is confident in its evidence against Garcia. Her release is not tantamount to exoneration, and the office said it would study whether to refile charges.

Garcia is one of more than 20 prison officials, employees and civilians who have been charged in connection with Guzman's 2015 escape through a mile-long tunnel that accomplices dug to the shower in his cell. Investigations have found security protocols were not followed.

Guzman was recaptured in January.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Most recent World stories

Related topics

World
The Associated Press

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
    Newsletter Signup

    KSL Weather Forecast

    KSL Weather Forecast
    Play button