Mexican cartel member’s trial on track for October

A federal judge said a Mexican cartel lieutenant’s drug-trafficking trial in Chicago still appears on track for October.

He made the comment during a status hearing Wednesday for Vicente Zambada. Zambada didn’t appear but listened in by phone from jail.

U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo has set an Oct. 9 trial for the admitted member of Mexico’s largest drug syndicate, the Sinaloa cartel.

The judge had set the trial for February, but Zambada’s dramatic claim that the United States had granted him immunity for intelligence on rival cartels forced a delay. Earlier this month Castillo rejected Zambada’s claim, ruling there was no evidence he had the OK to commit crimes with impunity.

Zambada was arrested in Mexico in 2009 and extradited a year later.