Federal Judge Denies Release for Woman Accused in Union Leader’s Murder

Cancún, Quintana Roo — A federal judge has denied a release request for Lesly María Rodríguez Rodríguez, a suspect implicated in the 2025 murder of former union leader Mario Machuca, ruling that evidence against her is strong enough to keep her in custody pending trial.

Mario Fernando Gallegos León, the Eighth District Judge in Quintana Roo, rejected Rodríguez’s petition for protection, stating that prosecutors presented compelling proof of her involvement in planning the killing and providing information to the assassins.

The Quintana Roo State Prosecutor’s Office secured Rodríguez’s pretrial detention in October 2025, arguing she played a key role in the crime. According to court documents obtained by local media, the judge found the imposition of preventive prison justified under constitutional and national criminal procedure codes, allowing detention for up to two years while the case proceeds.

Investigators allege Rodríguez, along with a man known as “El Ingeniero,” began plotting Machuca’s murder in January 2025, recruiting hitmen in Cancún who carried out the shooting on August 4, 2025, around 1 p.m. in the city’s streets.

“The accused participated in the planning and facilitated information and instruments for the material authors to execute the crime,” the court file states.

Machuca, the former head of the CROC labor union, was killed in August 2025. Rodríguez was arrested the following October.