Joaquín pleaded guilty after admitting his role in overseeing the transport of tens of thousands of kilograms of drugs to the US
One of the sons of notorious Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges.(Image: U.S Department Of State)
One of the sons of notorious Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ has pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges. Joaquín Guzmán López pleaded guilty on Monday to US drug trafficking charges, according to Associated Press.
His plea comes months after his brother entered a plea deal. Joaquín Guzmán López and brother Ovidio Guzmán López, known in Mexico as the ‘little Chapos’ are accused of running a section of the Sinaloa cartel. In 2023 the operation was labelled by federal authorities as a massive effort to send “staggering” quantities of fentanyl into the US.
Joaquín, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise after admitting his role in overseeing the transport of tens of thousands of kilograms of drugs to the US, mostly through underground tunnels. His attorney said that he is expected to avoid life in prison with the plea deal.
Joaquín, 39, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise after admitting his role in overseeing the transport of tens of thousands of kilograms of drugs to the US
There was a large security presence at Chicago’s federal court ahead of the hearing in which prosecutors detailed events leading up to Guzmán López’s dramatic arrest with another longtime Sinaloa leader on US soil in July 2024.
Dressed in an orange jumpsuit Guzmán López did not say much in the court on Monday but when asked at the beginning of the hearing what he did for work he responded to District Judge Sharon Coleman, “drug trafficking”.
“Oh that’s your job,” Coleman said with a chuckle. “There you go.” Prosecutors said that if Guzmán López cooperates with the US government his life sentence would be reduced however he will still face at least 10 years in prison said Andrew Erskine, an attorney representing the federal government.
Guzmán López will not have the opportunity to appeal the sentence as part of the plea deal. His defense attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, said: “The government has been very fair with Joaquín thus far. I do appreciate the fact that the Mexican government didn’t interfere.”
Guzmán López was arrested in July 2024 in Texas with another longtime Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada after they landed in the US on a private plane. Both men have previously pleaded not guilty to various drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges.
Their shocking arrest created a surge in violence in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the Sinaloa cartel clashed. As part of the plea deal, Joaquín Guzmán López admitted to helping oversee the production and smuggling of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and fentanyl into the United States, fueling a crisis that has contributed to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually.
In the deal Guzmán López also admitted to kidnapping an unnamed individual alleged to be Zambada. Erskine described the supposed kidnapping in court, saying Guzmán López had the glass from a floor-to-ceiling window removed.
Guzmán López allegedly had others enter through the open window during a meeting in the room with the unnamed person where they were seized with a bag put over his head and put on a plane. On board, he was zip tied and given sedatives before the plane landed at a New Mexico airport near the border with Texas, report AP.
Erskine argued that the alleged kidnapping was an attempt to show cooperation with the US government, which did not sanction those actions. He said Guzmán López would not receive cooperation credit because of that.
Zambada’s attorney has previously claimed that his client was “forcibly kidnapped” by Guzmán López onto the flight to the US and Lichtman said he would try to seek a lower sentence.
Police dogs were in the lobby of the downtown courthouse sniffing bags and equipment. In July, Joaquin’s brother Ovidio Guzmán López became the first son of the drug kingpin to enter a plea deal.
He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges tied to his leadership role in the cartel. This plea deal was seen as a significant step for the US government in their investigation and prosecution of Sinaloa cartel leaders according to Legal experts.
Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2019 for his role as the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, having been responsible for smuggling huge amounts of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. The brothers allegedly took over their father’s former role as leaders of the cartel.