Notorious Mexican cartel leader Rafael Caro Quintero wants to get rid of a member of his defense team — a lawyer whose dad is the federal judge who ordered the seizure of the drug lord’s real estate in Mexico.
Caro Quintero, the so-called “Narco of Narcos” who the feds say orchestrated the 1985 torture and murder of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent, was represented by court-appointed attorney Michael Vitaliano after he was hauled to Brooklyn and arraigned Feb. 28.
Earlier this month, prosecutors flagged a potential conflict of interest involving Vitaliano.
Though the government hasn’t publicly disclosed the nature of the conflict, Vitaliano is the son of longtime Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Eric Vitaliano, who in 2021 ordered the seizure of five of the drug kingpin’s properties in Mexico. A Mexican court upheld the order in what prosecutors referred to as a “landmark ruling” in 2022.
“Mr. Caro Quintero acknowledged his awareness of the potential conflict of interest posed by the continued representation of him by Mr. Vitaliano, and does not wish to waive the potential conflict of interest existing here and desires to proceed without the services of Mr. Vitaliano,” Donald duBoulay, another member of his legal defense team, wrote to Judge Frederic Block on Monday.
A spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney John Durham declined comment, as did Vitaliano when contacted Tuesday.
Cara Quintero is accused of masterminding the kidnapping, torture and murder of DEA Agent Enrique “Kike” Camarena, which was depicted in the Netflix series “Narcos,” and was one of the founding members of the notorious Guadalajara Cartel, the predecessor of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Caro Quintero, who at one point topped the FBI’s list of most wanted fugitives, was arrested in Mexico in a dramatic 2022 capture.
He and 28 other cartel figures were expelled from Mexico in February, in what’s been viewed as a show of cooperation from Mexican officials to stave off the Trump administration’s ever-changing tariff threats.
Federal prosecutors have said the U.S. Department of Justice is weighing whether to seek the death penalty, and Block formally assigned veteran defense lawyer Elizabeth Macedonio as Caro Quintero’s “learned counsel” — meaning she’ll represent him in any death penalty-related proceedings.