Second Strike for Los Chapitos; ‘El Güero’ Pleads Guilty

Joaquín Guzmán López will have a hearing to change his plea in agreement with the defence and the US prosecution.

On December 1, 2025, a second son of Joaquín Guzmán Loera, El Chapo, will be arrested. Joaquín Guzmán López, alias El Güero, is scheduled to appear at 1:30 p.m. in the federal court in Chicago, Illinois, to formalize the plea agreement he negotiated with U.S. prosecutors, who accuse him of participating in a criminal enterprise under his father’s protection: Los Chapitos.

Although the details of the agreement and the specific charges Joaquín Guzmán will accept haven’t been made public, it is expected that it will include at least the charge of organized crime, as this would guarantee a life sentence for the Mexican national if he doesn’t enter into a cooperation agreement with authorities, as his brother Ovidio Guzmán López, alias El Ratón, did.

The status of the hearing changed.

According to transcripts from Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman’s courtroom, who is presiding over all the defendants in the Chapitos case, the hearing on December 1, which was initially scheduled as a status hearing, was converted into a hearing for a change of plea agreement between the defense and the U.S. prosecution.

Since July 2014, when Joaquín Guzmán López surrendered to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and pleaded not guilty, his lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, has been involved in negotiations with Washington to obtain a plea deal for his client. This has caused several of his court appearances to be delayed.

What has happened in the Ovidio Guzmán case?

In the interim, Ovidio Guzmán, who was extradited to the United States in September 2023 after his violent arrest in Culiacán, pleaded guilty to four counts of organized crime and drug trafficking, contained in two indictments in two different districts.

On July 11 of this year, when he pleaded guilty, prosecutors also confirmed that El Ratón was providing information as a cooperating witness, which could eventually lead to a reduced sentence and prevent him from spending the rest of his life behind bars.

It is expected that Joaquín Guzmán López will already be part of a similar agreement, although details will not be made public until he formalizes his plea deal.

Furthermore, he received additional credit for having turned over Ismael Zambada García, alias El Mayo, the historical leader of the Sinaloa Cartel and, at one time, a close associate of his father, El Chapo Guzmán, on the same day he surrendered to the U.S. government.

Source: Milenio