A drug smuggling and murder trial has been postponed for a man federal prosecutors say was a bodyguard for a now-dead Mexican drug cartel leader.
Prosecutors say Rigoberto Ruiz Alatorre was a bodyguard for Gabino Salas Valenciano. Salas was believed to have run the Sinaloa drug cartel's operations across the border from El Paso County until Mexican authorities killed him last year.
The murder charge stems from a shooting in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2006. The 36-year-old Ruiz has denied the charges and told the El Paso Times that he didn't know Salas was involved in drugs.
U.S. District Judge Frank Montalvo says prosecutors and defense attorneys should advise him Tuesday if evidentiary issues have been solved so the trial originally scheduled for Monday can open Wednesday or next week.
