MEXICAN boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr has been released from custody while awaiting trial for alleged connections to drug cartels according to his legal team.
The thirty nine year old son of boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez was deported from the United States on Monday before appearing before a federal judge in Sonora on Saturday.
“He will be released immediately as ordered by the judge,“ lawyer Ruben Fernando Benitez told reporters.
Benitez later confirmed through brief messages that Chavez Jr had been released from prison by noon on Sunday.
The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment regarding the release.
Chavez faces charges of “organized crime” without a leadership role and for allegedly participating in the “clandestine introduction of weapons into Mexico” according to his lawyer.
Benitez stated that “very strict measures” including a travel ban were imposed but added that Chavez would comply with all conditions.
During the court hearing the attorney general’s office requested three additional months to gather evidence according to local media reports.
The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for November twenty fourth.
United States authorities arrested Chavez in July for being in the country illegally without proper documentation.
They also indicated he was wanted in Mexico for alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel which the United States designates as a terrorist organization.
After his deportation Mexican authorities transferred him to a prison in Hermosillo the capital of Sonora state.
Chavez’s arrest in July came just days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber turned boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout before a sell out crowd in California.
If convicted on all charges Chavez could face four to eight years in prison according to his legal representative. – AFP
