Ex-Mexican cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia on Monday pleaded guilty to federal charges related to his role as a co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel, including drug trafficking, gun offenses and money laundering.
Zambada pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and one count of running a continuing criminal enterprise, the Justice Department said. He had originally pleaded not guilty, but last week federal prosecutors wrote in a court filing that he intended to change his plea.
The Associated Press reported that in brief remarks in a court hearing Monday, Zambada apologized for his actions.
“I recognize the great harm illegal drugs have done to the people in the United States and Mexico,” he said through a Spanish-language interpreter, the AP reported. “I apologize for all of it, and I take responsibility for my actions.”
In indictments against Zambada in both New York and Texas, federal prosecutors alleged that Zambada and other Sinaloa cartel leaders were responsible for massive quantities of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl and other illegal drugs being distributed into the U.S.
He is expected to be sentenced to prison on Jan. 13, the AP reported.
“El Mayo will spend the rest of his life behind bars. He will die in a US federal prison where he belongs,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said Monday. “His guilty plea brings us one step closer to achieving our goal of elimination of the drug cartels and the transnational criminal organizations throughout this world that are flooding our country with drugs, human traffickers and homicides. Under President Trump’s leadership, the Department of Justice is on the front lines of this fight.”
Zambada, 77, ran the Sinaloa cartel alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, known as “El Chapo,” until both men were arrested. Zambada was arrested in July of 2024 at an airfield in El Paso, Texas.
In addition to drug smuggling charges, Zambada is alleged to have employed thousands of people in Central and South America, plus Mexico and the United States, to ensure the Sinaloa drug product made it to America. Prosecutors also alleged that Zambada also employed hit men to kidnap or kill anyone who threatened the cartel’s operations, which brought billions of dollars into the cartel.
Prior to his plea agreement, Zambada faced a mandatory minimum of life in prison if convicted.
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