Son of notorious kingpin pleads guilty in billion-dollar US drug trafficking case

Federal authorities in 2023 described the operation as a massive effort to send “staggering” quantities of fentanyl into the U.S.

Joaquín Guzmán López, 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 (pounds) of drugs to the U.S., mostly through underground tunnels.

With the plea deal, his attorney said, he is expected to avoid life in prison.

Security was tight 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 U.S. soil in July 2024.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit and matching shoes, Guzmán López spoke little in court Monday. At the outset of the hearing, U.S. District Judge Sharon Coleman asked him what he did for work.

“Drug trafficking,” he said.

“Oh that’s your job,” Coleman said with a chuckle. “There you go.”

If Guzmán López cooperates with the U.S. government, prosecutors said, they would reduce the life sentence attached to the charges. Regardless, he faces at least 10 years in prison, said Andrew Erskine, an attorney representing the federal government.

Guzmán López 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 authorities.

“The government has been very fair with Joaquín thus far,” he told reporters after the hearing. “I do appreciate the fact that the Mexican government didn’t interfere.”

Guzmán López and another longtime Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, were arrested in July 2024 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, 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.

Guzmán López also admitted to kidnapping an unnamed individual purported to be Zambada. Erskine described the alleged kidnapping in court, saying Guzmán López had the glass from a floor-to-ceiling window removed. During a meeting in the room with the unnamed person, Guzmán López 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 border with Texas.

Erskine said the alleged kidnapping was part of an attempt to show cooperation with the U.S. government, which did not sanction those actions. He said Guzmán López also 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 U.S.

Lichtman said he would try to seek a lower sentence.

“I don’t know how this ends up," Lichtman said. "If he gets a 10-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 authorities used police dogs to sniff bags and equipment in the lobby of the downtown courthouse.

In July, Ovidio Guzmán López became the first son of drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán 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 significant step for the U.S. government in their investigation and prosecution of Sinaloa cartel leaders.

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 smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years.

The brothers allegedly assumed their father’s former role as leaders of the cartel.