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| Yanira Maldonado, 42, left, accompanied by her husband, Gary, center, speaks to an official after being released from a prison on the outskirts of Nogales, Mexico late Thursday, May 30, 2013. Maldonado, jailed in Mexico on a drug-smuggling charge, was released after court officials reviewed her case. She was arrested by the Mexican military last week after they found nearly 12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) of pot under her seat on the commercial bus traveling from Mexico to Arizona. |
NOGALES, Mexico
(AP) -- An Arizona woman held in a Mexico jail for a week after
federal police said they found 12 pounds of marijuana under her bus seat
was freed and returned to the U.S. after a court reviewed her case,
including key security footage, and dismissed the allegations.
Yanira
Maldonado, 42, walked out of the prison on the outskirts of Nogales,
Mexico, and into her husband's arms late Thursday and crossed through
the Nogales port of entry into Arizona. After spending the night in a
hotel, she drove away with a police escort at midmorning Friday and was
expected to return to her Phoenix-area home to be reunited with her
children.
Maldonado spoke briefly after her
release, thanking U.S. State Department officials, her husband, her
lawyers and prison workers who made her stay comfortable.
"Many
thanks to everyone, especially my God who let me go free, my family, my
children, who with their help, I was able to survive this test," she
said.
Maldonado also said at a news conference
later that she still loves Mexico, and the experience will not stop her
from returning in the future to visit family there.
"It's
not Mexico's fault. It's a few people who did this to me and probably
other people, who knows?" Maldonado said. "I'm still going to go back."
The
family's lawyer in Nogales, Jose Francisco Benitez Paz, said a judge
determined Thursday that Maldonado was no longer a suspect, and all
allegations against her were dropped. Prosecutors are appealing the
ruling, but Benitez said that is routine and Maldonado will not have to
return to testify.
Maldonado's release came
hours after court officials reviewed security footage that showed the
couple boarding a commercial bus traveling from Mexico to Phoenix with
only blankets, bottles of water and her purse in hand.
U.S.
politicians portrayed her as a victim of a corrupt judicial system and
demanded her release, with Arizona congressmen saying they were working
closely with Mexican authorities.
Sen. Jeff
Flake, R-Ariz., who previously said he has had "multiple conversations
with the deputy Mexican ambassador," on Friday welcomed Maldonado's
release.
"Though I'm sure this last week has
been a nightmare for her, I'm thankful that Mrs. Maldonado's clear
innocence was proved and that she is now home safe with her family," he
said in a statement released by his office.
Arizona
Gov. Jan Brewer said her administration had been closely monitoring
Maldonado's case and been talking with authorities on both sides of the
border.
"As Americans, we all know that our
precious constitutional rights don't extend beyond our nation's
borders," she said. "It is this kind of case that once again illustrates
how blessed we are in this country. Most of all, I am so happy for the
Maldonado family that they can now put this chapter of their lives
behind them."
The judge had until late Friday
to decide whether to free Maldonado or send her to another prison in
Mexico while state officials built their case.
Maldonado
was arrested by the Mexican military last week after they found nearly
12 pounds (5.4 kilograms) of pot under her seat during a security
checkpoint.
Benitez noted it was a fairly
sophisticated smuggling effort that included packets of drugs attached
to the seat bottoms with metal hooks - a task that would have been
impossible for a passenger. He said witness testimony and the
surveillance video showed Maldonado was innocent.
"There is justice in this country," he said.
Maldonado
husband, Gary Maldonado, said he originally was arrested after the pot
was found under his wife's bus seat. But after Yanira Maldonado begged
the soldiers to allow her to come along to serve as a translator, the
military officials decided to release him and arrest her instead. Gary
Maldonado alleges authorities initially demanded $5,000 for his wife's
release, but the bribe fell through.
"Here, we are guilty until you are proven innocent," he said after the court hearing.
Maldonado's
lawyer said there is no bail in serious criminal cases in Mexico, and
that included the drug smuggling charge she faced. Instead, he had to
gather evidence that could clear her before a judge, and he praised the
bus company for gathering the video evidence and providing a list of
fellow passengers who could back up her claims.
"I as a defense attorney have to prove her innocence," her lawyer said Friday. "After I got the evidence I knew I would win."
The
Maldonados were traveling home to the Phoenix suburb of Goodyear after
attending her aunt's funeral in the city of Los Mochis when they were
arrested.
The bus passed through at least two
checkpoints on the way to the border without incident. In the town of
Querobabi in the border state of Sonora, all the passengers were ordered
off the bus and a soldier searched the interior as they waited. The
soldier exited and told his superiors that packets of drugs had been
found under seat 39, Yanira Maldonado's, and another seat, number 42.
Her husband was in seat 40.
Gary Maldonado
said a man sitting behind them on the bus fled during the inspection. He
said the man might have been the true owner of the drugs.
About 40 people were on the bus before the inspection, but Gary Maldonado said he was the only passenger who appeared American.
Mexican
officials provided local media with photos that they said were of the
packages Maldonado was accused of smuggling. Each was about 5 inches
high and 20 inches wide, roughly the width of a bus seat.
The marijuana
was packed into plastic bags and wrapped in tan packing tape.
The
couple had previously traveled on commercial buses through Mexico
because they felt it was safer than driving a personal vehicle.
Yanira
Maldonado is a naturalized U.S. citizen who was born in Mexico, her
family said. She and her husband have seven children from previous
marriages. The couple celebrated their first wedding anniversary while
she was jailed.
Drug traffickers have
increasingly been using passenger buses to move U.S.-bound drugs through
Mexico. Federal agents and soldiers have set up checkpoints along
Mexico's main highways and have routinely seized cocaine, marijuana,
heroin and more from buses.
Mexico's justice system is carried out largely in secret, with proceedings done almost entirely in writing.
Four
years ago, Mexico decriminalized the possession of small amounts of
marijuana, cocaine and heroin, but it still has stiff penalties for drug
trafficking.
Mexican law doesn't specify a
minimum or maximum sentence in drug crimes and leaves it up to the judge
to decide how long the sentence should be, said Jose Luis Manjarrez, a
spokesman for federal prosecutors in Mexico.
On
Wednesday, an army lieutenant, a private and another sergeant were
supposed to appear in court but they did not show up. The army did not
explain why, the couple's lawyer said.
A search of court records in Arizona turned up no drug-related charges against Yanira or Gary Maldonado.
