Federal Prosecutors Seek to Revoke Injunction Protecting Former Quintana Roo Governor from Prison Transfer

Cancun, Quintana Roo — A federal appeals court in Cancún is reviewing a request from the Federal Prosecutor’s Office (FGR) to revoke a permanent injunction that has blocked the transfer of former Quintana Roo governor Mario Ernesto Villanueva Madrid to a federal prison in Morelos since last year.

The First Collegiate Circuit Court received the FGR’s appeal on January 6 and formally admitted it on January 22, initiating its review in mid-February. The appeal challenges a June 25, 2025, ruling by the Sixth District Court that granted Villanueva Madrid the injunction against a transfer order, citing his respiratory and cardiac health conditions.

The FGR argues the court did not meet legal requirements for granting the injunction and seeks to enforce the order to incarcerate Villanueva Madrid at the Ceferepsi facility in Morelos.

Meanwhile, Villanueva Madrid denied reports of a new transfer order and expressed confidence that the newly appointed judiciary and FGR head Ernestina Godoy will handle his case lawfully. “I have confidence in the new judges, the new judiciary, and above all in the Prosecutor’s Office, in Attorney Ernestina Godoy, so that her people now act in accordance with the law,” he said in an interview with journalist Julian Santiesteban on Radio Maya Internacional’s “A Micrófono Abierto” program.

Villanueva Madrid stated that his legal team is now primarily seeking conditional release, arguing he has served more than half of his sentence and citing his health and age. Another ongoing process aims to secure permanent house arrest, though proceedings have been slow.

He referenced previous negotiations during the last presidential administration, when President Andrés Manuel López Obrador publicly committed to helping secure his release, while the FGR under then-head Alejandro Gertz Manero continued pushing for a prison transfer. The FGR has maintained that house arrest was only a temporary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Villanueva Madrid noted that FGR-appointed medical experts have confirmed his fragile health and stated he could not receive adequate care in a federal prison, alleging “bad faith” from the previous FGR leadership. He hopes the new administration under Godoy will adhere strictly to legal procedures in upcoming hearings.

“The only thing I have asked for is neither favor nor grace, only that the law be applied as written, in the strict sense of the law,” he affirmed.

This is not the FGR’s only appeal against measures halting Villanueva Madrid’s transfer. The Sixth District Court upheld another permanent injunction against external enforcement authorities on August 28, 2025. The FGR filed an appeal against that ruling on September 4, 2025, which has not yet been assigned to a court.

The current appeal was initially filed on July 2, 2025, but case file assembly delayed its referral to the circuit court until December 29. The judicial administration office received it on December 31 and assigned it to the First Collegiate Circuit Court on January 6.

Magistrate Lina Victoria Bolio Pasos, newly appointed following judicial elections, was assigned to oversee the appeal instruction on February 9. Magistrate Aarón Alberto Pereira Lizama, re-elected in the judicial elections, and a secretary acting as magistrate will also participate in the ruling, filling a vacancy left by the retirement of Magistrate Teddy Abraham Torres López.