 | A Mexican judge has been arrested on U.S. charges that he accepted a $2 million bribe to grant bail to Ryan Wedding‘s alleged second-in-command, the U.S. Justice Department announced Thursday.
Federal judge Luis Benítez Alcántara, 49, of Mexico City, was arrested in Colombia and charged with nine counts of being an accessory after the fact following the surprising release of Canadian Andrew Clark in early 2025. The U.S. alleges Clark negotiated a deal to pay Benítez Alcántara approximately $2m in exchange for ordering his release. Clark was released on Feb. 24, 2025, the same day cops say the judge received the $2m. He was re-arrested days later and sent to the U.S. |  |
 | Benítez Alcántara was arrested in Columbia on Nov. 1 and U.S. authorities say they are working to extradite him to the U.S., where he is facing nine counts of being an accessory after the fact. If convicted, he could face a maximum of 15 years in prison on each count. Wedding was arrested in Mexico in January and remains in custody in the U.S. where he is awaiting two separate trials set to begin next year. |  |
