00:00So Frank, thank you for your time. First of all, what's your name and what's your employment here?
00:05My name is Frank Perez and I'm an attorney.
00:09And you're attorney for...
00:10I'm an attorney for... I'm the principal attorney for the law office of Frank Perez and I represent this man,
00:16Zambada Garcia.
00:17Okay. So first of all, did Mr. Zambada cooperate with the government? Did he give any information or any kind
00:25or after his arrest on the U.S. soil? Is he an informant?
00:30No, he's not an informant. He did not cooperate with the government in the traditional sense. His cooperation was accepting
00:37responsibility and entering a guilty plea.
00:40And therefore the government avoided having a very complex federal trial. But as far as giving information to anyone, no,
00:48he did not do that.
00:49Why did he choose not to cooperate? I mean, would he... he would have a reduction on his sentence if
00:59he would cooperate?
01:01It's possible, yes. But he just... he did not want to cooperate. He told me from the very beginning that
01:07he was guilty. He wanted to accept responsibility.
01:11But he was not going to talk about anyone, period. He was not going to talk about anybody within his
01:16cartel or any other cartel. Or he wasn't aware of any corrupt government officials that they were talking about.
01:24He says, I don't know anyone that's corrupt. So he just said, no, he was not going to cooperate. And
01:29that's just the posture that we took.
01:31There was an offering for a cooperation?
01:32Well, there's always an offering for cooperation. They always want you to cooperate. You know, somebody that's been around as
01:38long as he has, you know, over 50 years. Of course, you know, they would want his cooperation. But he
01:43wasn't interested in doing that.
01:45Do you think he could change his mind anytime after this sentence?
01:50Absolutely not. I mean, he has nothing to gain anyway. You know, he's an old man. He's got a lot
01:58of age-related medical issues that come with age.
02:02He's 76 years old. And he has nothing to gain. He has absolutely zero to gain. I mean, what they
02:08do, he's at life. If they cut him to 30, I mean, I don't think he'll live out a 15
02:12-year sentence. I mean, that's going to be really tough.
02:15That was my next question. Do you think he's going to be free at any time?
02:20No, no.
02:22Did you have access to the discovery on the case? What kind of evidence was used against Mr. Zumbata?
02:31Well, the evidence against Mr. Zumbata was, you know, public record. I mean, it came out in Chapo's trial. So,
02:38the same evidence they had against Chapo, they had against Mr. Zumbata. Mr. Zumbata's name came out quite a bit.
02:44I think it came up also in the Garcia Luna case. So, the evidence was there. The witnesses were there.
02:50So, there was no way we were going to get around this case.
02:53So, there was some chance that maybe his brother or his son would testify in the case of a trial?
02:59Well, yes. There was a chance that they would be called as witnesses.
03:03Did the allegation of a presumed kidnapping affect the trial preparations of the three negotiations with the U.S. government?
03:11Well, not really, because the way the law is in the United States, once you make it here, it doesn't
03:18matter how you get here. I mean, there was other individuals who were expelled from Mexico that were unhappy about
03:23that. But, once you get here, the court gets jurisdiction. So, yeah, that doesn't affect it at all.
03:31You mentioned Minster Zumbata's health during the sentencing. How is he doing? What kind of affections does he have?
03:41Well, I mean, he's 76 years old. I mean, I really can't get into his medical conditions. But, I mean,
03:47you know what happens. As you get older, your body starts breaking down.
03:51You start getting high blood pressure, diabetes, you know, other issues that are related with that. Also, your cognitive capabilities
03:59start declining as well.
04:01Is Mr. Zumbata still looking for a deportation back to Mexico?
04:07Mr. Zumbata would like to go back to Mexico. He would like to go back to Mexico and serve his
04:13time there. You know, what he told me was, say, I plead guilty to the United States.
04:18I accepted, you know, their punishment. Now I'd like to go to my country and plead guilty there as well
04:24and accept my punishment there.
04:27And I want to be an example to the younger generation not to do what I do, because it only
04:33ends in a bad way.
04:36Do you think, or is Mr. Zumbata planning to file a complaint because of his kidnap in Mexico?
04:43No.
04:46Does he know, or is he aware, and are you aware of the people involved in his kidnapping?
04:53Yes.
04:55For example, who?
04:58Luis Joaquin was Chapo Guzman's son.
05:04Amayo's godson is the one that kidnapped him, and Hondo was the pilot.
05:09So, what about the pilot? What happened to him? Do you know that he's in U.S. soil?
05:14I believe he's in U.S. custody, but I'm not sure. But that's what I believe. That's what I heard.
05:20But I haven't confirmed that. But yeah, he should be in U.S. custody.
05:24Mr. Zumbata confirmed that was Hondo and Joaquin, the two guys on the airplane?
05:29Yes.
05:31What's your understanding about the plea deal of Mr. Joaquin Guzman Lopez? Is he obtaining credit because of the kidnapping,
05:38because the U.S. government said that he wasn't going to obtain any corporation credit for Mr. Zumbata's kidnapping?
05:44You know, I'm not keeping up with his case. I'm not sure what's going on with that, but I find
05:51it highly unlikely that he's going to get credit after he was involved in the kidnapping where several people were
05:56killed.
05:57What do you expect for the prison where Mr. Zumbata is going to spend the rest of his life? Do
06:04you think there's a chance he's going to be sent to Colorado Sub-Max?
06:08Of course, there's always a chance because of who he is. He's my own Zumbata. He's considered one of the
06:14biggest traffickers in the world.
06:19Under the BOP guidelines, I think he's eligible for a medical center, and I think the judge said today that
06:26he's going to recommend that he go to a medical center.
06:29The judge did see his medical reports and I guess agrees, and the government really wasn't opposed to it.
06:36They just want him at the appropriate medical center at the security level that he's at.
06:42Do you expect the SAMS to be dropped?
06:46No, I don't because he's just such a high profile person. Maybe in the future as his medical conditions deteriorate,
06:55that maybe they'll remove him. I don't know.
06:58There's just a lot of things that have to happen right now. They believe that if some Flacco is in
07:04charge of the cartel and they're afraid Mr. Zumbata might be sending messages, which I can tell you he's not
07:11going to do that.
07:11But the government has to prepare for that and make sure there's security there.
07:17Now, for the future monetary order, is Mr. Zumbata going to pay $50 billion? How is he going to do
07:25that?
07:25No, there's no way he's going to be able to pay that. I mean, the government didn't identify any properties.
07:31They didn't identify anything.
07:32And you and I know that people at that level don't have anything in their names. And right now with
07:39the war going on there, I mean, they're stealing properties, burning properties. I mean, who knows what he has left
07:45of the properties and things that he did have.
07:49Was Mr. Zumbata still trafficking drugs by the time he was arrested?
07:53My understanding is no.
07:58Do you know from Mr. Zumbata what happened with Los Chapitos? Why was he betrayed?
08:05I don't know. I can't answer that. He doesn't know. He had a lot of trust in them. And that's
08:10why he met with them. So he didn't see it coming.
08:16How are the incarceration conditions for Mr. Zumbata? Did you expect them to go better after the MDC?
08:27I think so. I think they should be a lot better. You know, MDC is considered one of the worst
08:31prisons in the United States.
08:33I personally haven't seen that. And Mr. Zumbata has been treated very well here and he's comfortable where he's at.
08:40Yeah. He's a very simple man. So he's told me he's very, very comfortable and he wouldn't mind staying here.
08:47Yeah. I mean, do you think that Mr. Zumbata has received a fair treatment by the DOJ?
08:54Yes, I do.
08:57How Mr. Zumbata spends his time in prison? I mean, how the conditions are in the MDC? What does he
09:04do in his...
09:05You hear a lot of complaints about the MDC, but he has not complained to me one time. He reads
09:12books. He listens to a radio. No, he doesn't...
09:19Hasn't complained at all. He passes the time fairly well.
09:24Have you been in touch with his family in Mexico? Is he expecting to see his family again?
09:31Yes, I've been in touch with him and yes, he does hopefully see his family again.
09:35On Mr. Zumbata, how would you describe him today? What kind of man is now Mr. Zumbata?
09:45Well, he's a different man than the man I knew in Mexico. I think the kidnapping took a lot out
09:51of him. It knocked him down. He was injured when he was kidnapping.
09:56I guess he's reserved, but he's making the best out of a bad situation.
10:02What's his character? Does he speak English? Does he...
10:06He speaks Spanish, but he's learning to speak a little bit of English. He always has a very, very good
10:11demeanor when I meet with him. He's always laughing, talking. We talk quite a bit. Yeah, he's in good spirits.
10:20How hard is it to work with someone like Zumbata with charges like Continuum Criminal Enterprises and with someone who
10:28has the SAMS on him?
10:32Well, it's very, very difficult. We don't get... very difficult to get a contact visit. So, it's difficult. I mean,
10:40cases this stature are difficult to work because there's a lot of evidence. There's just a lot of things you
10:45have to look at.
10:46And a lot of things you have to consider to decide how you want to proceed with a case of
10:51this magnitude.
10:53Now, going back to 2024, how did you became aware of his kidnapping? Did you have to travel to Texas?
11:02What can you tell us about learning that your client was kidnapped and transferred to Mexico?
11:07Well, all I know is that I guess when they brought my client to Texas, he told them that I
11:13was his lawyer. They called me and I went to El Paso and I was able to see him late
11:18that evening.
11:20Did you think that there was like a political intention on Mr. Zumbata's case? Do you think he's being blamed
11:30on crimes he didn't commit?
11:36That's a difficult question because I'm not exactly sure what crimes you may be talking about. I mean, Mr. Zumbata
11:43accepted responsibility. I mean, you saw his factual resume where he said he's guilty.
11:49He says, look, I'm guilty. I'm going to accept responsibility. I was wrong. And I was on the wrong side
11:54of the law. So, I'm going to plead guilty. So, whatever's in the factual resume is true.
11:58Do you think you got the best scenario possible for your client?
12:03Absolutely. Absolutely. There was a no-win situation. We were not going to win a trial. I mean, I sat
12:10through part of Chapo's trial and I listened to Garcia Luna's trial. I knew who the witnesses were.
12:17I think the best strategy was to, I knew what his medical issues were as well. And at the end
12:23of the day, what I wanted was a medical facility for him.
12:25And, I mean, at the end of the day, he's the boss. And he said, hey, look, I'm guilty. So,
12:31that's the course that we took.
12:32So, on the kidnapping in Mexico, is Mr. Zumbata aware or suspecting even that any U.S. agency participated in
12:41the kidnapping?
12:43Well, Mr. Zumbata wouldn't know. Mr. Zumbata was, I mean, taken into a room and thrown to the ground. He
12:49was disoriented at that point.
12:51When he was put on the plane, I think they gave him some kind of liquid to make him go
12:55to sleep. So, he doesn't really know what happened.
12:58It happened so quick for him. And it caught him by surprise. I mean, he told me when he was
13:03on the plane, he thought they were going to throw him off the plane.
13:06So, everything happened really quick. So, I don't think he really knows what happened there. Who's involved then?
13:14A really strange question, but has Mr. Zumbata ever been in touch in any way with Joaquin Guzman Loera?
13:22Has he ever been in touch with him? Since his arrest? No. Absolutely not. There's no way he could do
13:27that.
13:28He's under Sands and, you know, we can't pass messages. I don't think he wants to have contact with him.
13:35So, he hasn't been in contact with anybody, even with his sons in Mexico or with his sons in the
13:41U.S.?
13:43No. I mean, he does get some visitation. I'm not going to get into that, but he doesn't get family
13:47visitation.
13:48But no, he can't. I mean, we're not, I'm not going to violate the SAMHSA agreement.
13:53And Mr. Zumbata doesn't want to do that either to get anybody in trouble. So, no, he's not been in
13:58touch with him.
13:59Finally, do you think Mr. Zumbata had any message left for Mexico, for the U.S. government, for the Mexican
14:06government, after this sentencing conference?
14:11Well, I mean, he has a message for the youth and anybody thinking about getting into this business. He's saying,
14:18you know, don't do it.
14:19I mean, it destroys lives, destroys families. And it's just, it's not a good scenario. There's never a good ending
14:27to get in this business.
14:29And that's what he wants to leave for everybody else. Don't do this. And to stop the violence is just
14:34not necessary.
14:37Frank, thank you so much for your time.
14:39No, you're welcome. You're quite welcome. Happy to do it.
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