BROOKLYN — Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya was charged this month by U.S. authorities with being corrupted by the Sinaloa cartel and colluding with the faction known as Los Chapitos. Rocha Moya and nine other current and former Sinaloan officials are named in the indictment, which was filed in federal court in Brooklyn.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Rocha Moya allowed the Sinaloa cartel to operate with impunity. The Justice Department also alleges that cartel leaders guaranteed his election by sending gunmen to intimidate rival candidates, steal ballots and threaten voters at the polls.

Los Chapitos is a cartel faction led by four sons of Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. The indictment alleges that Guzmán Salazar commanded his sicarios to wage a campaign of terror to ensure Rocha Moya's election in 2021. During the investigation, prosecutors recovered a ledger of monthly bribe payments to top Sinaloan officials from Mexico.

Rocha Moya took leave as governor this month to address the charges and has denied doing anything wrong. Rocha Moya also denied any knowledge of a separate plot involving the kidnapping of a longtime cartel leader, saying he was traveling to Los Angeles on the day that individual was taken into U.S. custody.

The indictment did not mention Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the longtime Sinaloa cartel leader at the center of a parallel case. That case concerns Zambada's kidnapping by one of El Chapo's sons and his delivery to U.S. authorities, an act carried out in hopes of receiving a deal. According to a statement issued by his lawyer, Guzmán López lured Zambada to a villa on the outskirts of Culiacán to mediate a dispute between Rocha Moya and another Sinaloan politician.