A Mexican senator said "narco-politicians will tremble" as a result of an expected guilty plea by Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, with U.S. authorities.
Concretely, PRI Senator Cristina Ruiz Sandoval said the leader of the "Chapitos" cartel could "name names" and put local politicians in hot water to get more lenient treatment for him and family members.
Unsealed court documents show that the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has concluded its case against Guzman Lopez, his case now transferred to a federal court in Chicago, where "El Ratón" is expected to plead guilty next month to five charges, including drug trafficking and money laundering.
A notice filed on July 1 in New York states that Guzmán plans to plead guilty at a hearing scheduled for July 9 at 11 a.m. The plea agreement must be submitted to authorities at least three days before the court date.
Considered a key leader of the Los Chapitos faction following his father's 2016 arrest, Guzmán López allegedly oversaw the cartel's fentanyl production and trafficking operations until his capture in Culiacán, Sinaloa, in January 2023. He was extradited to the United States in September of that year.
Prosecutors in New York charged him with six federal crimes, including conspiracy to import fentanyl, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, trafficking fentanyl, possession and conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices, as well as money laundering.
Since his extradition, Guzmán López's legal team has reportedly worked with U.S. prosecutors to negotiate a deal that could reduce his sentence and offer protection to some family members in exchange for intelligence on rival cartels — including the La Mayiza faction, which has been involved in turf wars with Los Chapitos since September 2024.
For months, legal experts have speculated that Guzmán and his brother Joaquín, also known as "El Güero," were cooperating under Section 5K1.1 of the U.S. Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which allows for sentence reductions if a defendant provides "substantial assistance" to the government. Benefits can include reduced prison time, relocation under witness protection, and more lenient prison conditions.
In May, Mexico's Secretary of Security and Citizen Protection, Omar García Harfuch, confirmed that 17 members of the Guzmán family entered the United States as part of a negotiated agreement related to Ovidio's legal case. The group crossed through the San Ysidro port of entry on May 9 after traveling from Culiacán while U.S. federal agents were reportedly waiting for them at the border.
Journalists in Mexico later reported that the family's relocation was linked to "valuable" information the Guzmán brothers had turned over to U.S. authorities, including video evidence of cartel members delivering cash.
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