The son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo” intends to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges in the U.S., according to court documents filed Tuesday.
Prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez, along with his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, ran a faction of the cartel known as the “Chapitos,” or little Chapos, that exported fentanyl to the United States. The Chapitos and their cartel associates have allegedly used corkscrews, electrocution and hot chiles to torture their rivals while some of their victims were “fed dead or alive to tigers,” according to a 2023 U.S. indictment.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez’s father is Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel who smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States for over 25 years. “El Chapo” is now serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in the U.S.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico in 2023 and extradited to the United States. He was charged in federal court in Chicago with money laundering, drug and firearm offenses.
Rumors had circulated in May that Ovidio Guzmán Lopez would plead guilty to avoid trial.
He previously pleaded not guilty, but online court records indicate he is scheduled to appear in court on July 9 to change his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors. Court documents filed Tuesday indicate he intends to plead guilty after word of a possible deal was disclosed during an October hearing.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez would be the first of the brothers to enter a plea deal.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez is also in U.S. custody. He and another longtime Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, were arrested in July in Texas after they landed in the U.S. on a private plane. Joaquin Guzman Lopez has pleaded not guilty to charges including money laundering, drug dealing and conspiracy to distribute drugs. Zambada also pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors said in May they wouldn’t seek the death penalty for Joaquin Guzman Lopez if he’s convicted of multiple charges.
The wife of “El Chapo” was released from prison in 2023 after she was sentenced to 36 months in prison following her 2021 arrest.
The men’s dramatic capture prompted a surge in violence in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the Sinaloa cartel clashed.
The conflict between the two factions, which has left more than 1,200 people dead, pits gang members aligned with Zambada against others loyal to El Chapo and his sons, who lead a faction called the “Chapitos.”
Federal prosecutors and Ovidio Guzman Lopez’s attorney, listed in online court records as Jeffrey Lichtman, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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