Witness against 'El Chapo' sentenced to 15 years for role in drug trafficking
CHICAGO _ A former top aide to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman whose testimony in New York helped convict the Sinaloa cartel kingpin was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday in federal court in Chicago for playing a key role in trafficking thousands of pounds of cocaine and heroin into the U.S. using speedboats, submarines and jumbo jets.
Vicente Zambada-Niebla, 44, had faced up to life in prison, but U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo credited him for what prosecutors had called his "unrivaled" cooperation.
With credit for the decade he's already served in custody, Zambada-Niebla could be released in less than three years. He'll likely spend the rest of his life in witness protection, however, prosecutors have said.
Nicknamed "Vicentillo," Zambada-Niebla was born into the cartel life and rose through the ranks under the tutelage of his father, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, to become one of Guzman's most trusted associates.
Zambada-Niebla was extradited to Chicago, where he secretly pleaded guilty in 2013 and began cooperating himself.
_Chicago Tribune
