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Mexican Politician Linked To Cartel
Updated: Saturday, 16 Oct 2010, 9:50 AM CDT
Published : Saturday, 16 Oct 2010, 9:50 AM CDT

(NewsCore) - A taped telephone conversation between a person believed to be a federal congressman and a drug lord raised new questions about law and order in Mexico, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

The taped call put under the spotlight the extent to which Mexican drug gangs bought off politicians and whether the politicians, if exposed, could even be punished.

Julio Cesar Godoy, a newly elected lawmaker from the leftist Party of the Democratic Revolution, failed to turn up at Mexico's Congress on Friday, a day after a radio station broadcast what it said was a conversation between the congressman and Servando Gomez, a top official in the La Familia drug cartel.
In a brief appearance in Congress on Thursday, Godoy denied that he knew the drug lord but evaded questions as to whether the voice on the tape was his. Officials at the attorney general's office, which handles prosecutions for federal crimes, declined to comment.

The Godoy case has become a symbol to many Mexicans of the difficulty in rooting out corruption of politicians by drug gangs, who are fighting each other for turf and defending themselves against an attack by the federal government of President Felipe Calderon.

Last year, the attorney general's office accused dozens of Michoacan politicians -- including Godoy as well as sitting mayors, judges and prosecutors -- of being on the payroll of La Familia, which is based in that western state. Most of the cases, however, fell apart in court.

Godoy, the half brother of current Michoacan state governor Leonel Godoy, was a candidate for federal Congress at the time and was the only one charged to have evaded arrest. He campaigned from hiding, won his seat and sneaked into Congress a few weeks ago to take the oath of office. In so doing, he automatically gained immunity to prosecution for crimes.

Federal prosecutors vowed to go after Julio Cesar Godoy despite his immunity. Federal officials said they believe he got some $2 million in bank deposits from the drug cartel over the years, according to excerpts from the government case against him published Friday by Mexican newspaper Excelsior. The attorney general's office declined to discuss the allegation. Julio Cesar Godoy could not be reached for comment.


http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpps/news/m ... 6_10141909