Judge McNally Keeps July 10 Hearing for U.S. Attorney Over 3 Sealed Tren de Aragua Defendants
Updated
Updated · Chicago Tribune · Jul 8
Judge McNally Keeps July 10 Hearing for U.S. Attorney Over 3 Sealed Tren de Aragua Defendants
3 articles · Updated · Chicago Tribune · Jul 8
Summary
A federal magistrate denied Andrew Boutros’s bid to cancel Thursday’s hearing, requiring the U.S. attorney to answer questions about public remarks on a sealed kidnapping-and-murder case.
Boutros argued he acted in good faith at a July 1 Washington news conference, believing the complaint would be unsealed and citing language allowing disclosures needed to enforce criminal law.
McNally said the seal remained in effect while one defendant was still at large; prosecutors had hand-delivered proposed redactions but filed no formal motion before Boutros spoke, and a written unsealing request was not docketed until later.
The sealed complaint charges Josue Pacheco Torres, Kleiver Monasterio Briceno and Julian Pachano—described as high-ranking Tren de Aragua members—with kidnapping resulting in death after a May 18 abduction in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood.
The dispute adds to broader scrutiny of the Chicago U.S. attorney’s office at the Dirksen courthouse, where judges have recently questioned prosecutors’ credibility after the Broadview Six case collapsed.