Mexican boxer Chavez Jr. released from prison pending trial

Mexican boxer Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. was released from custody Sunday while awaiting trial for alleged links to drug cartels, according to his legal team.

Chavez Jr., 39, son of boxing legend Julio Cesar Chavez, was deported from the United States on Monday and appeared before a federal judge in the northwestern state of Sonora on Saturday.

“He will be released immediately as ordered by the judge,” lawyer Ruben Fernando Benitez told reporters.

Benitez later confirmed in brief messages to reporters that Chavez Jr. had been released from prison by noon Sunday.

The attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.

Chavez faces charges of “organized crime” without a leadership role, and for allegedly participating in the “clandestine introduction of weapons into Mexico,” the lawyer said.

Benitez said “very strict measures,” including a travel ban, were imposed, but added that Chavez would comply.

During the court hearing, the attorney general’s office requested three additional months to gather evidence, according to local media. 

The next hearing is set for November 24. 

US authorities arrested Chavez in July for being in the United States illegally.

They also said he was wanted in Mexico for alleged ties to the Sinaloa Cartel, one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated as terrorist organizations by the United States.

After Chavez’s deportation, Mexican authorities transferred him to a prison in Hermosillo, the capital of Sonora state.

Chavez’s arrest in July came days after his lopsided loss to YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul in a cruiserweight bout before a sell-out crowd in California.

If convicted, Chavez could face four to eight years in prison, his lawyer said.