El Güero’s hearing is scheduled for 1 December. He is expected to plead guilty to at least one charge.
Joaquín Guzmán López, alias El Güero, one of El Chapo Guzmán’s sons, will plead guilty to at least one drug trafficking charge this Monday, December 1.
According to a court document from the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago, the hearing scheduled for December 1 at 1:30 p.m. will be a change of plea hearing for Guzmán López, who faces five charges related to drug trafficking, organized crime, and firearms possession.
Kidnapping of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada
On Thursday, July 25, 2014, Joaquín handed over the Sinaloa Cartel co-founder to U.S. authorities in El Paso, Texas, after kidnapping him.
Simultaneously, the drug lord also decided to surrender; both were arrested. Joaquín was captured, along with Ismael Zambada, at an airport near El Paso, Texas. The son of El Chapo Guzmán and the historic leader of the Sinaloa Cartel arrived in the United States on an aircraft from Mexico.
In response, Mexican authorities accused him of treason, as he committed acts that compromised the country’s integrity by handing over a suspected drug trafficker to a foreign nation.
In addition, El Güero is accused in a Federal Court in Illinois, along with the rest of Los Menores (another name for Los Chapitos), of trafficking cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana, as well as firearms possession.
Separately, and along with his brother Ovidio, he is accused of trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana in a Federal Court in Washington, D.C.
What is the plea agreement based on?
Two of the Chapitos, Joaquín Guzmán López and his brother Ovidio, negotiated a plea deal that could allow them to avoid a potential sentence of at least 20 years in prison, but which could even be life imprisonment.
The agreement would involve the Guzmán López brothers pleading guilty in exchange for a reduced sentence, thus avoiding a trial.
For the U.S. government, this would mean winning the case while saving the costs and time of a jury trial.
“Prosecutors will present the defendant with the opportunity to plead guilty to a lesser charge or to the original charge with a lesser sentence than the maximum […] When the defendant admits to the crime, they accept guilt and agree to be ‘sentenced’ by the presiding judge, the only person authorized to impose a sentence. Sometimes, as part of a plea agreement, the government agrees not to recommend a more severe sentence (such as additional prison time for certain reasons), but it’s up to the judge’s to determine how the defendant will be punished,” explains a federal criminal procedure manual from the Department of Justice.
It is also estimated that the defense and prosecutors will negotiate the defendant’s potential role as a cooperating witness in other trials or ongoing investigations, which would bring him further benefits.
Who is Joaquín Guzmán López?
Joaquín Guzmán López is the second youngest of El Chapo’s five sons and a member of Los Chapitos. He inherited the cocaine and marijuana trafficking business from his brother Edgar after Edgar was killed in a shootout in Culiacán, Sinaloa.
He maintained the lowest criminal profile within the organization, becoming involved in all the criminal enterprises he inherited from his father. He even coordinated a family operation to facilitate the escape of the Sinaloa cartel leader from the Altiplano prison in 2015.
Source: Milenio
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