Mexican Judicial System Prevented Early Release Due to Election Judge Rotation

What was said

"The reason why that I was in there so long is I guess at the time where I got arrested, the, the, the whole judicial system was going through an election at the time. So it was new judges that— so all the, all the judges that were like taking bribes and stuff before, they had all got— they, they switched out the judges. So the new judges were there were like, all right, we just got here, we're not trying to take no, you know, we're trying to play it by the book and get comfortable."

Rodriguez revealed his release was delayed because Mexico's judicial elections replaced corrupt judges with new ones unwilling to accept bribes. He was supposed to be released in December but remained imprisoned for months longer. The corruption was so pervasive that guards openly charged thousands of dollars for cell upgrades and amenities, with one guard initially demanding $7,000 before a cartel boss negotiated it down to $3,000.