SIMI VALLEY : Witness Says She’ll Be Freed in Deal
The key witness in the biggest money-laundering trial in Ventura County history acknowledged Tuesday that she had made a deal with prosecutors, trading her testimony for her freedom.
But Luz Urrego, 39, said she was telling the truth Jan. 12 when she testified that her brother-in-law, Otoniel Urrego, was closely involved in a drug money-laundering operation based in a Simi Valley warehouse.
Otoniel Urrego, 64, is on trial in Superior Court, accused of cocaine trafficking and money-laundering in a case involving the 1989 seizure of $2.5 million in cash. Luz Urrego was indicted on the same charges, but pleaded guilty in July to money laundering. In exchange for her testimony against her brother-in-law, prosecutors agreed to drop the other charge, which could have resulted in a 20-year prison term.
Under cross-examination Tuesday by Otoniel Urrego’s attorney, Terrence A. Roden, Luz Urrego acknowledged that she contacted prosecutors about working out a deal and that she was told that she will be sentenced to the time she has already served after the trial.
“You walk out the door as soon as the trial is over, right?” Roden asked.
“If I tell the truth,” she replied. “I am telling the truth.”
Both Luz and Otoniel Urrego have been in Ventura County Jail since their arrests in March.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
