Morena and 'El Mayo's' lawyers: What services did Sergio Ramírez provide to the Chamber of Deputies?

The PAN coordinator in the Lower House , Elías Lixa , exhibited this Tuesday a copy of a contract that the law firm of 'El Mayo' Zambada signed with the Chamber of Deputies in 2021 , in the midst of the scandal caused by the alleged link between Morena and the drug trafficker's lawyer, Juan Pablo Penilla .

"I have just been given this contract in which lawyer Sergio Arturo Ramírez Muñoz, Penilla's partner , signed a contract for the provision of services, in the last legislature, with this Chamber of Deputies with a Morena majority," Lixa told the media.

The leader of the PAN party said that information about Morena's ties with Zambada's defenders "literally comes out through the sewers," referring to an interview in which Ramírez and Penilla appear in which they claim to be lawyers for organized crime and drug trafficking .

Lixa also attacked the president of San Lázaro, Sergio Gutiérrez Luna , because his signature authorizes said document.

"I want to see the president of this House, who is very brave, throwing and distributing blame, distorting, deny that the House of which he is president and which he was president in the previous legislature signed a contract with this office," said the PAN deputy.

Lixa added that the same person who appears in a video (in reference to the lawyer Sergio Ramírez) signed a fixed service provision contract , for more than 60 thousand pesos a month , as compensation with the Chamber of Deputies.

According to the document, the office had contracts with the Lower House in the LXV legislature, for a total of 65,300 pesos for professional services in the Culture and Cinematography Commission , at the time chaired by Morena.

The contract bears the signatures and names of Rosario Elizabeth Daniel Pablo , General Director of Human Resources of the Culture and Cinematography Commission, and Sergio Arturo Ramírez Muñoz , partner of Juan Pablo Penilla .

The clauses specify that the contract's validity period covers the period from May 1 to August 31, 2021, detailing that once this period has concluded, all its effects will expire "without any liability for the contracting party."

Both parties have exchanged accusations in recent days regarding the closeness of the supporters of 'El Mayo' to the political sphere.

On the one hand, Sergio Gutiérrez Luna revealed that PAN legislators recognized the professional career of Juan Pablo Penilla Rodríguez and awarded him the award as “Ambassador for Peace” in 2023.

According to the Morena legislator, the person in charge of making said distinction was the PAN deputy María Teresa Castell , who requested permission from the Chamber of Deputies to hold the event in the Legislators Hall of the Legislative Palace.

In response, the national leader of the PAN, Jorge Romero , distanced himself from the links between the 'blue and white' party and Penilla and described as "ridiculous" the members of Morena who insist on these accusations.

For their part, PAN members Federico Döring , Saúl Téllez and Jorge Triana also accused national leaders, governors and legislators of Morena of having links with the lawyers of 'El Mayo' Zambada .

The name of attorney Juan Pablo Penilla came to light because he appears as one of the legal advisors who presented the letter from Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada to the Mexican Consulate in New York, in which he requests the intervention of the Mexican government to repatriate him .

Penilla has been the legal representative of drug traffickers such as Miguel Ángel Treviño Morales, alias 'Z-40' , former leader of the Los Zetas Cartel . His clients also include José Alberto, known as 'El Betito' , and David García Ramírez, alias 'El Pistache' , leaders of the criminal group La Unión de Tepito .

With information from Quadratín .