A man who was supposed to be the alleged 'heir' to the Gulf Cartel empire is expected to go to trial in January after pleading 'not guilty' during an impromptu arraignment.
Gulf Cartel leader Rafael Cardenas-Vela (aka 'El Junior') and two alleged bodyguards were scheduled to be arraigned on federal charges on Wednesday morning.
Bodyguards Francisco Javier Escalante-Jimenez and German Alejandro Huizar-Marroquin are still scheduled to appear but their alleged boss already made his court appearance.
Records show that U.S. Magistrate Court Judge Ronald Morgan held a separate and an otherwise unscheduled arraignment for Cardenas-Vela on Tuesday, November 22nd.
Cardenas-Vela pleaded not guilty to a federal drug trafficking indictment filed against him.
The records show that jury selection for the jailed Gulf Cartel leader is now scheduled to take place on January 5th.
U.S. Immigration & Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Cardenas-Vela following a traffic stop in Port Isabel back in October.
Federal officials are looking to seize $20 million dollars in cash, a luxury home outside Rio Hondo and a house in northwest Brownsville from Cardenas-Vela.
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