Son of drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ pleads guilty in US drug trafficking case in a plea deal

CHICAGO AP One of the sons of notorious Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo pleaded guilty on Monday to U S drug trafficking charges months after his brother entered a plea deal Known locally in Mexico as the Chapitos or little Chapos Joaquin Guzman Lopez and brother Ovidio Guzman Lopez are accused of running a faction of the Sinaloa cartel Federal bureaucrats in described the operation as a massive effort to send staggering quantities of fentanyl into the U S Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to two counts of drug trafficking and continuing criminal enterprise after acknowledging his role in overseeing the shipping of tens of thousands of kilograms pounds of drugs to the U S mostly through underground tunnels With the plea deal his attorney disclosed he is expected to avoid life in prison Protection was tight at Chicago s federal court ahead of the hearing in which prosecutors detailed events leading up to Guzman Lopez s dramatic arrest with another longtime Sinaloa leader on U S soil in July Wearing an orange jumpsuit and matching shoes Guzman Lopez spoke little in court At the start of the hearing U S District Judge Sharon Coleman solicited him what he did for work Drug trafficking he explained Oh that s your job Coleman commented with a chuckle There you go If Guzman Lopez cooperates with the U S administration prosecutors noted they would reduce the life sentence attached to the charges Regardless he faces at least years in prison revealed Andrew Erskine an attorney representing the federal leadership Guzman Lopez would have no opportunity to appeal the sentence as part of the plea deal His defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman commended both U S and Mexican officials The authorities has been very fair with Joaquin thus far he reported reporters after the hearing I do appreciate the fact that the Mexican authorities didn t interfere Guzman Lopez and another longtime Sinaloa leader Ismael El Mayo Zambada were arrested in July in Texas after they landed in the U S on a private plane Both men have previously pleaded not guilty to various drug trafficking money laundering and firearms charges Their surprising capture prompted 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 Joaquin Guzman Lopez admitted to helping oversee the production and smuggling of large quantities of cocaine heroin methamphetamine marijuana and fentanyl into the United States fueling a problem that has contributed to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually Guzman Lopez also admitted to kidnapping an unnamed individual purported to be Zambada Erskine described the alleged kidnapping in court saying Guzman Lopez had the glass from a floor-to-ceiling window removed During a meeting in the room with the unnamed person Guzman Lopez allegedly had others enter through the open window seize the individual put a bag over his head and take him to a plane On board he was zip tied and given sedatives before the plane landed at a New Mexico airport near the limit with Texas Erskine commented the alleged kidnapping was part of an attempt to show cooperation with the U S governing body which did not sanction those actions He explained Guzman Lopez would not receive cooperation credit because of that Zambada s attorney has previously claimed that his client was forcibly kidnapped by Guzman Lopez onto the flight to the U S Lichtman reported he would try to seek a lower sentence I don t know how this ends up Lichtman revealed If he gets a -year sentence it s still a lot of time for anybody to spend in prison In court observers were instructed to turn off electronic devices while executives used police dogs to sniff bags and equipment in the lobby of the downtown courthouse In July Ovidio Guzman Lopez became the first son of drug lord Joaquin El Chapo Guzman to enter a plea deal He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking money laundering and firearms charges tied to his leadership role in the cartel Legal experts called that plea deal a major step for the U S executive in their probe and prosecution of Sinaloa cartel leaders Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is serving a life sentence after being convicted in for his role as the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel having smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over years The brothers allegedly assumed their father s former role as leaders of the cartel Associated Press writer Sophia Tareen in Chicago contributed to this account Source