40-Year Sentence Sought in Case Over Deaths of 2 U.S. Agents in Mexico

A Mexican federal judge is set to decide on Saturday whether prosecutors may proceed with a treason indictment against César Jáuregui, the former attorney general of Chihuahua state. The charge carries a penalty ranging from 5 to 40 years in prison. Federal prosecutors argue Jáuregui endangered national security when he authorized U.S. agents to join a field operation, a decision they say Mexico's federal government alone can make. Jáuregui resigned his post and was arrested on Oct. 17 on separate state charges of illegally exercising public office; a judge ruled Thursday those counts can move to trial.

The case stems from an April 19 operation in the mountains of Morelos, a municipality in Chihuahua. State prosecutors said that day they had dismantled a drug laboratory. Jáuregui later called the site "one of the largest sites found in the country where chemical drugs were produced." No arrests were made because suspects fled. On the drive back, a vehicle in the convoy left the road and fell into a ravine, killing two Mexican officials and two Americans. The Mexican dead were Pedro Román Oseguera Cervantes, first commander of the state investigation agency, and officer Manuel Genaro Méndez Montes.

Accounts of who the Americans were have not matched. U.S. Ambassador Ronald Johnson described them as "embassy personnel." Multiple people familiar with the matter later identified them as CIA agents. The CIA declined to comment. Mexico's security ministry said one entered as a visitor and the other held a diplomatic passport, and that neither carried accreditation for operational work. Two other U.S. agents in a separate vehicle were later expelled. President Claudia Sheinbaum said none had permission to operate in Mexico.

The episode has drawn attention to Sheinbaum's emphasis on national sovereignty and to the scope of U.S. activity on Mexican soil. Her predecessor, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, had restricted such activity, and Sheinbaum later amended the constitution to prohibit field operations without express Mexican authorization. The U.S. State Department said it is aware of and monitoring the case but did not connect it to the deaths of the two Americans.

Legal specialists have cast doubt on the treason count. Samuel González, a former chief prosecutor for organized crime, said Jáuregui may have failed in his duties by not notifying federal authorities or by letting foreign agents carry weapons, but he said that would not meet the bar for treason, which he called a wartime crime. Defense attorney Héctor Villasana told a closed hearing that prosecutors sought an exemplary punishment to prevent a situation like the U.S. removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. Carlos Pérez Ricart of the CIDE university said prosecutors told a closed hearing they wanted an exemplary punishment. He said the case would carry wide public effect even if dropped, called it a political decision ahead of the 2027 midterm elections, and said it "sends a very bad signal to Washington." Pérez Ricart also noted that such U.S. actions have often occurred without federal knowledge and that absent clear rules they can lead to abuses. The federal judge's decision is scheduled for Saturday.

Jáuregui has said the Americans were "instructor officers" carrying out training under binational anti-drug cooperation.