Buenos Aires, December 21, 2025 - Total News Agency (TNA) - The judicial case facing Argentine businessman Federico Andrés Machado, accused of drug trafficking, money laundering, and fraud, is entering a decisive phase that is beginning to cause concern in Argentina, especially on the political front. However, his potential statements, should he choose to cooperate with the judicial system, could have political and judicial repercussions that are currently being monitored with concern in Argentina, particularly due to his ties to the liberal world and his indirect connection to the governing coalition. The deadline for a potential deal is February 6, a detail that has accelerated both judicial and political speculation. In this context, the role of his lawyer in Argentina, Francisco Oneto, becomes relevant. Oneto is not acting as a technical defender in the United States but serves as a liaison between the U.S. defense and the Machado family, who reside in Viedma. It is there that the case involving him in a presumed transnational criminal structure linked to drug trafficking and money laundering is being handled. Federal Judge Amos Mazzant set a key deadline: the businessman has fifty days to decide whether to plead guilty and reach a plea deal with the prosecution or maintain his innocence and face a jury trial beginning March 2. This situation has brought up a 2002 case in Miami where he was found with cocaine, a background that prevented his swearing-in in the Senate and forced him to retain his seat in the Chamber of Deputies. The political point of concern is that Oneto is directly linked to La Libertad Avanza, the party for which he was a candidate for vice governor, and maintains relations with liberal sectors that are now part of the national government. This partisan closeness explains the close political monitoring of the case, under the hypothesis that Machado might decide to cooperate with U.S. justice. The businessman, also known for having financed José Luis Espert's presidential campaign in 2019, has already been mentioned in journalistic investigations for his connections with actors in the local political and economic ecosystem. Oneto was also in charge of the businessman's legal strategy in the country until his extradition was finalized. In April 2026, five years will have passed since his initial deprivation of liberty, counting his initial detention in Argentina—ordered by the federal judge of Neuquén—, his house arrest in Río Negro, and the period served in the United States. In recent weeks, the defense itself acknowledged before the court that it is holding 'discussions' with the prosecution to evaluate a negotiated exit, a common formula in the U.S. criminal system when exploring the figure of a collaborating defendant. The time factor is playing in Machado's favor. With that precedent, his defensive strategy aims for a deal close to a seven-year total sentence, which would open the possibility of regaining freedom in approximately thirty months. In parallel, the criminal case includes a significant asset front. In a hangar in Dallas, the Justice Department has three old aircraft belonging to Machado under seizure, including a Douglas A-4B, an iconic plane due to its historical use by the Argentine Air Force during the Falklands War. With deadlines already running and a crucial decision on the immediate horizon, the future of Federico 'Fred' Machado is being decided between an Oklahoma prison and a federal court in Texas. Another strong link between Machado and LLA is Deputy Lorena Villaverde, who is linked to Fred Machado through her partner Claudio Ciccarelli, the businessman's cousin. The central issue is the concrete possibility that Machado will opt to become a collaborating witness for U.S. justice, a decision that could lead to sensitive repercussions beyond his personal situation. Machado remains detained at the CoreCivic Cimarron Correctional Facility, a medium-security prison located in the state of Oklahoma, from where he is periodically transferred to the federal court for the Eastern District of Texas, based in Dallas.
"In recent weeks, the defense itself acknowledged before the court that it is holding 'discussions' with the prosecution to evaluate a negotiated exit, a common formula in the U.S. criminal system when exploring the figure of a collaborating defendant."
