The Ecuadorian judgment was the culmination of a suit brought in Lago Agrio by Donziger and the Front in 2003, seeking damages for contamination allegedly left behind by Texaco from its drilling there between 1964 to 1990. Texaco was acquired by Chevron in 2001. It has been known since January that Chevron would call as a witness (publicly) a former Ecuadorian judge, Alberto Guerra Bastidas, who will testify that he acted as an intermediary in striking the alleged bribery deal whereby Donziger and two Front leaders promised to give Nicolás Zambrano, the then presiding judge in the Lago Agrio case, $500,000 from any recovery in exchange for letting the Front's team write the judgment. Former judge Zambrano has submitted an affidavit denying Guerra's claims, and Donziger has said he will call Zambrano as a defense witness in the RICO case.