Ex-Governor Avoids Prison in Legal Victory

Chetumal, Mexico — On her final day in office, Federal District Judge Reyna Fuentes López issued a definitive suspension in favor of former governor Mario Villanueva Madrid, a ruling that prevents his return to prison on narcotics trafficking charges.

The decision, published this Friday, represents a significant legal victory for Villanueva Madrid. As a result, he will continue to benefit from house arrest, a mitigating measure to his sentence for drug trafficking, which has kept him confined to a private residence in the Andara subdivision of Chetumal.

Judge Reyna Fuentes López, who until recently presided over the Sixth District Court in Chetumal, was among the judges who declined to participate in the recent judicial elections. Her jurisdictional duties concluded this weekend, with new officials who won their posts via the ballot box set to assume their roles starting Monday, September 1st. She departed her post after delivering this favorable ruling for Mario Villanueva Madrid, as dictated in the judicial agreement within the case file 442/2025 for indirect amparo.

“The definitive suspension requested by (…) is granted, against the challenged act specified in the second considering clause of this resolution, attributed to the various responsible executing authorities indicated in the diverse considerations,” states the court document consulted by Sol Quintana Roo.

Mario Villanueva was notified of his impending return to prison in early May. This notification followed a successful request made by the Attorney General's Office of the Republic (FGR) before a Judge of Penal Execution in Mexico City. The former governor immediately filed for an amparo, or protective order. Initially, he was granted a partial suspension against his re-imprisonment because the penitentiary authorities, located in the center of the country, refused to respond to the lawsuit.

The incidental hearing within the amparo trial was held this past Thursday. The ruling in favor of the former governor was announced the following day. Villanueva Madrid was arrested in 2001 near Cancún and was later sentenced to more than 34 years in prison for narcotics trafficking. He was accused of providing protection for the transit of cocaine.