Mexican attorney linked to botched hit on journalist agrees to extradition from California

Mexico suspects Armando Escárcega Valdez of masterminding the failed assassination attempt of prominent Mexico City journalist Ciro Gómez Leyva in December 2022

Mexican news anchor Ciro Gómez Leyva was driving home from work late one night in December 2022 when a small car veered into the path of his Jeep Cherokee and slowed to a stop. Almost immediately, two people on a motorcycle pulled next to the Jeep and a gunman opened fire with a pistol, spraying 9mm bullets into the Jeep’s driver-side window, windshield and hood.

Gómez, also the host of a popular radio show, survived the attack thanks to his Jeep’s armored plating and bulletproof glass — precautions deemed necessary by some journalists in one of the most dangerous nations in the world for media workers. Thirteen other journalists were killed that same year in Mexico.

Investigators in Mexico City quickly identified suspects and placed them under surveillance, and they soon came to suspect a man nicknamed “El Patrón,” or The Boss, had masterminded the attempted assassination.

On Thursday, that man, a Mexican lawyer named Armando Escárcega Valdez, appeared in federal court in San Diego for what was supposed to be a hearing to establish if Mexico had presented sufficient evidence to warrant his extradition. Instead, Escárcega waived his limited rights and agreed to be surrendered back to Mexico.

Escárcega’s attorney, David Baker, told U.S. Magistrate Judge Daniel Butcher that while his client was not admitting guilt, he agreed there was enough probable cause to meet the extradition requirements.

A Mexican judge issued a warrant for Escárcega’s arrest in January 2023 after investigators raided his home and law office in Mexico City and discovered evidence allegedly linking him to the attack on Gómez and other crimes, according to court documents. Undercover surveillance teams and wiretaps also produced evidence of Escárcega’s alleged involvement planning the attack.

The attorney avoided capture for about nine months, seeking to hide out in the U.S., but he was arrested in October near Bakersfield. He was later brought to San Diego, where a federal judge had issued an arrest warrant related to the extradition request.

Esteban Moctezuma Barragán, the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., formally requested Escárcega’s extradition in March.

Had Escárcega chosen to contest the extradition at Thursday’s hearing, he and his attorney would have faced a daunting task. As federal prosecutors laid out in court documents ahead of the hearing, fugitives facing extradition have few rights, since extradition hearings are only designed to establish probable cause, not guilt or innocence.

In such a hearing, a fugitive has no right to cross-examine witnesses or introduce evidence that contradicts the government’s evidence, according to federal prosecutors. The fugitive can only introduce evidence that further explains the government’s evidence. And unlike in most normal U.S. court proceedings, the government can also present hearsay evidence against the fugitive.

Even a judge’s role in the process is limited. Once probable cause has been established, the ultimate decision whether to extradite falls to the secretary of state.

“The Secretary takes into account humanitarian claims and applicable statutes, treaties, or policies regarding appropriate treatment in the requesting country,” prosecutors wrote.

Escárcega faces a criminal count in Mexico similar to a conspiracy charge, with underlying offenses related to drugs, extortion and attempted murder.