Former Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte will not be able to be released early, as Federal Judge Ángela Zamorano Herrera denied his request. The judge ruled that the politician does not meet some of the legal requirements for such a sentence reduction. Duarte's defense has already announced that it will appeal the court's decision to secure the former governor's release. Duarte has served 95% of his nine-year sentence, handed down in 2018 for a multi-million embezzlement during his tenure in the 'jarocha' state. Duarte's term in Veracruz was one of the most controversial in recent administrations of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI). Among the reasons for the denial, the judge noted that Duarte has other pending legal cases, including one for allegedly obstructing an investigation into forced disappearance of a person. Furthermore, the judge took into account that the former governor had broken the law by enjoying privileges in prison, such as access to cell phones and parties. In this way, Javier Duarte, who governed Veracruz from 2010 to 2016, will have to serve his full sentence, which ends next April. In addition to the various fraud cases and the multi-million embezzlement of public funds, his administration was characterized by a sharp increase in violence, the expansion of organized crime, and strong violence against journalists, considering that 17 professionals were murdered during his term.
