‘Los Chapitos’ negotiates plea deal while ‘El Chapo’s’ father fights for retrial in US

Robert Novoski

Convicted drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera is seeking a new trial in the United States, while his two sons are negotiating a plea deal with the US government.

Guzmán Loera’s request for a retrial was revealed on Monday, while attorneys Ovidio Guzmán López and Joaquín Guzmán López confirmed that the brothers are in talks for a possible plea bargain with the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago.

Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was in US custody in 2017
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019, and was later transferred to the Florence Supermax prison in Colorado. (DEA)

El Chapo, co-founder and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, was found guilty of drug trafficking in US federal court in Brooklyn, New York, in February 2019. He was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019, and was later transferred to the Florence Supermax prison in Colorado .

Ovidio Guzmán, one of the alleged leaders of the “Los Chapitos” faction of the Sinaloa Cartel, was extradited to the United States on drug trafficking charges in September 2023, eight months after his arrest in Culiacán, Sinaloa.

Joaquín Guzmán, another alleged leader of “Los Chapitos” who is also facing human trafficking charges in the United States, was arrested in the US in late July after he flew to the country on a private plane accompanied by alleged Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo”Zambada.

El Chapo cited ‘illegal’ extradition and ‘ineffective’ representation in request for new trial

Guzmán Loera submitted a handwritten motion to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan in which he requested a new trial, a request that appears unlikely to be granted.

In a filing completed in September, El Chapo said that his extradition from Mexico to the Eastern District of New York in 2017 was “illegal” because he should have been sent to a judicial district in Texas or California.

He also said that his legal counsel’s “assistance” at the 2018-19 trial was “ineffective.”

El Chapo accused his lawyer of failing to adequately cross-examine witnesses and failing to object to certain evidence he deemed inadmissible.

Guzmán Loera did not cite new evidence as the basis for his request for a new trial, and acknowledged that he had previously filed a motion requesting a retrial.

One of the lawyers who represented El Chapo in what some have called “the trial of the century” was Jeffrey Lichtman, who now represents Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán López.

Lichtman: ‘Plea negotiations underway’

During a hearing in federal court in Chicago on Monday, Lichtman said that the two Guzmán López brothers were negotiating with the United States Attorney’s Office in Chicago for a possible plea deal.

“Today we just discussed the status of the case, we revealed that plea negotiations are ongoing, and this is not too surprising because plea negotiations continue in every case, including many cases that ultimately end up at trial,” the lawyer said in an interview with Noticias Telemundo.

“There are so many possibilities in a situation like this,” Lichtman told reporters in separate remarks.

“…Even though I represent both brothers it doesn’t change the fact that they each have their own cases,” he said.

“So this is not a package. … I want them to do the same thing, get the same results, but the government looks at it differently,” Lichtman said.

The Milenio newspaper first reported in August that Ovidio and Joaquín Guzmán were negotiating a deal with US authorities in which they would plead guilty to some of the crimes they were accused of in exchange for lighter sentences.

However, as stated by Lichtman, there is no certainty that an agreement will be reached.

A United States government prosecutor told Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Monday that negotiations between the two sides were still in the early stages and he hoped to have more information about a possible plea deal at a hearing early next year.

Ovidio, who appeared in court in Chicago on Monday, and Joaquín have been summoned to appear in court together on January 7. However, it is not yet known whether the two brothers will be tried together.

Both Ovidio, 34, and Joaquín, 38, are accused of drug trafficking as well as financial crimes and weapons offenses. They have pleaded not guilty to all the charges they face, although that could change if they reach a plea bargain.

Ismael El Mayo Zambada and Ovidio Guzmán
Lichtman emphasized that Joaquín (right) did not reach a prior agreement with the US government in the case against “El Mayo” Zambada (left). (Archive)

Zambada accused Joaquín Guzmán of kidnapping him in Culiacán and forcing him onto a plane that took him to US law enforcement officials on July 25. Mexico’s Federal Attorney General’s Office agreed with that version of events.

Joaquín Guzmán’s alleged kidnapping of El Mayo – who is one of Mexico’s most wanted drug lords – and his surrender to US authorities appears to be a ploy to obtain a more favorable outcome for himself and his brother.

However, Lichtman emphasized that Joaquín did not reach a prior agreement with the US government.

On Monday, attorneys “did not say whether… [the Guzmán López brothers] may, or may not, cooperate in the government’s case against El Mayo,” The Guardian reported.

At a hearing in the Zambada case last week, it was revealed that US prosecutors were considering seeking the death penalty for the 76-year-old suspected trafficker.

The next hearing in Zambada’s case is scheduled for January 15. Like Sinaloa Cartel co-founder El Chapo, El Mayo’s case is being tried in the US in the Eastern District of New York.

With reports from Reforma, El Universal, El Economista, ABC7, EFE and The Guardian



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