While the Sinaloa Cartel wages a battle in Mexico, some of its leaders, such as Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán, are negotiating with the US government to reduce their sentences.
In the image, Ovidio Guzmán, Joaquín Guzmán López, and El Mayo Zambada will face each other in a US court next year.
In 2025, the parade of defendants and nicknames in US courts was intense: ‘El Mayo’, ‘El Ratón’, ‘El Z-40’, ‘El Güero’, ‘El Narco de narcos’, ‘La Tuta’. All of them appeared before the courts that accuse them of forming cartels and flooding Donald Trump’s country with drugs.
The fight didn’t end there. In 2026, leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel will once again sit in the dock and hear their sentences.
Who are they and when will they find out how long they will be behind bars?
The Other War of ‘Los Chapitos’
While their brothers Iván Archivaldo and Alfredo Guzmán Salazar fight for control of the Sinaloa Cartel, the war of Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán López is being waged in US courts, where they brokered agreements behind closed doors with US prosecutors.
The pact included not only surrendering millions of dollars for lighter sentences, but also cooperating with US authorities to reveal how the Sinaloa Cartel’s drug trafficking operations work.
2026 will be decisive for the leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, who are one step away from knowing their sentences.
The sons of the world’s most famous drug trafficker, Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, are scheduled for sentencing hearings in 2026, after pleading guilty to various charges.
Ovidio Guzmán, the first ‘Chapito’ to release information to the US
Ovidio Guzmán López was arrested in January 2023 in a second attempt by the Mexican government to capture him. Following his capture, he was extradited to the United States in September of that year.
In July 2025, almost two years later, Ovidio Guzmán accepted responsibility for four counts of drug trafficking and organized crime before Judge Sharon Coleman of the Chicago Court.
Part of “El Ratón’s” strategy included hiring Jeffrey Litchman, his father’s lawyer, who secured a favorable agreement for Ovidio and his family.
A date for his sentencing will be set on January 9th.
Joaquín Guzmán López follows the path of the “snitches”
The 39-year-old drug trafficker, and second successor to “El Chapo” Guzmán to confess his crimes to the US, negotiated with US prosecutors from the moment he surrendered to authorities along with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.
Unlike his brother, his negotiations with the US took only a few months. On December 1st, Joaquín Guzmán López pleaded guilty before a District Court in the Northern District of Illinois to two counts of drug trafficking and organized crime.
“El Güero” will return on June 1st, 2026, for a pre-sentencing hearing.
“El Mayo” Zambada rushes to gather evidence
Almost 13 months passed before Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, handed over to authorities by Joaquín Guzmán López in July 2024, agreed to change his plea and confess his guilt.
Last August, before a federal court in the Eastern District of New York, the founder of the Sinaloa Cartel accepted the charges of leading a criminal enterprise.
Zambada García was handed over by his godson Joaquín Guzmán López, who set a trap for him and took him to the neighboring country without his consent.
The betrayal sparked an internal war within the Sinaloa Cartel between the Los Chapitos and Los Mayos factions.
This conflict has complicated the gathering of evidence to mitigate “El Mayo’s” sentence. Therefore, the drug trafficker’s lawyer, Frank Pérez, requested a 90-day extension, which was granted. Thus, ‘El Mayo’ will have a new hearing on April 13th.
Source: El Financiero
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2 Comments
How much time do you think each person would get (Ovidio, Joaquin, and Mayo)? Do you think ovidio and Joaquin actually get reduced sentences for turning in el mayo?
Joaquín and Ovidio are both in U.S. custody, cooperating, and already inside the WITSEC pipeline. Joaquín earned immediate leverage by surrendering himself and delivering Mayo. That cooperation has value now—and more importantly, later. These agreements are conditional. If prosecutors decide the cooperation isn’t sufficient, they can revoke the deal at any time. That means future testimony is not optional, even if it involves family.
Under best-case scenarios, Joaquín is likely looking at 5–10 years. Ovidio is likely looking at 10–15 years. Those ranges assume full compliance and continued usefulness to the government.
Mayo pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty. He is expected to receive life imprisonment.