U.S. Arrests Montemayor on Mexican Extradition Request

On October 9, 2002, Rogelio Montemayor, a 54-year-old former Coahuila state governor, surrendered to the U.S. Marshal?s Service after an arrest warrant for his extradition was issued the same day. During a hearing later in the day before federal magistrate Marcia A. Crone, the court freed Montemayor on bond after setting a $25,000 cash deposit. Since May 2002, the Mexican Government has requested Montemayor?s extradition on charges that he improperly negotiated a labor contract with the union of workers at Pemex, the state oil company, and subsequently deposited large amounts of public money with it. During the October 9 hearing, Mike DeGeurin, Montemayor attorney, argued that the Mexican Government recently had determined the labor agreements at issue were valid. Hence, the criticism about whether too much money, including a bribe, was delivered should not involve his client since the latter did not receive any money from the agreement. According to DeGeurin, Montemayor has a job offer in Houston and is currently petitioning the Immigration and Naturalization Service to permit him to work in the U.S.