The son of jailed Sinaloa Cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera pleaded guilty to various drug trafficking charges as part of a plea deal with prosecutors. As part of the plea deal, the young drug lord Joaquin “El Guero” Guzman Lopez confessed to having planned the kidnapping of his father’s former ally, Sinaloa Cartel’s co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, in order to turn him over to U.S. authorities. The ruse backfired with federal prosecutors not giving him any credit for the arrest, and with that kidnapping being perceived as a betrayal within the Sinaloa Cartel and setting off a fierce turf war that has lasted for more than a year.
During a court hearing this week, Guzman Lopez appeared before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, where he pleaded guilty to two counts of a large superseding indictment that charges him with leadership of the Sinaloa Cartel. As Breitbart Texas first reported, court documents filed last week revealed that Guzman Lopez had reached a plea deal with prosecutors and was scheduled to plead guilty this week.
As part of his guilty plea, Guzman Lopez admitted to having played a leading role in the Sinaloa Cartel under his father’s guidance since 2008, moving very large quantities of marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl. As part of their criminal enterprise, the Sinaloa Cartel routinely bribed Mexican authorities and also had a large group of gunmen at their disposal for enforcement and protection activities. After the arrest, extradition, and conviction of El Chapo, Guzman Lopez and his three brothers (known as Los Chapitos) took the helm of the operation. They continued moving multi-ton quantities of drugs into the United States.
The plea deal revealed that Guzman Lopez and his brothers planned the kidnapping of their father’s friend and ally, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, who was the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel and hoped that turning him over to U.S. authorities would get them preferential treatment from federal prosecutors. The court document revealed that the U.S. government “did not request, induce, sanction, approve, or condone the kidnapping,”. At the time of El Mayo’s arrest, there had been widespread speculation and even accusations from Mexico’s government that the U.S. government had been the mastermind behind the kidnapping.
Court documents revealed that even with the plea agreement, Guzman Lopez could be facing multiple life sentences in prison. However, he had agreed to cooperate with authorities and prosecutors and could be facing a lower sentence. The initial punishment is similar to the sentence handed down to Guzman Lopez’s father, El Chapo, who is currently serving a life term in prison. Unlike his son, El Chapo fought the charges in a highly publicized trial where witness testimony pointed to several Mexican presidents and various top political, law enforcement, and military figures in that country having received multi-million-dollar bribes.
After the hearing, Johnson Coleman scheduled Guzman Lopez for a status hearing in June and a sentencing hearing at a date that is yet to be determined.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com.
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.
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