The son of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman pleaded guilty Monday to a drug trafficking case in the United States, months after his brother struck a similar deal.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez was scheduled to appear in Chicago federal court for a hearing, but instead pleaded guilty, according to court records.
Guzman Lopez is one of El Chapo’s four sons – known as Los Chapos, or Little Chapos – who inherited their father’s faction of the Sinaloa Cartel. Guzman Lopez originally pleaded not guilty after his arrest last year in Texas.
Jeffrey Lichtman, Guzman Lopez’s defense attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Guzman Lopez faces multiple charges in the United States for smuggling large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs onto American streets. Fentanyl overdoses have increased and become the leading cause of death for Americans between the ages of 18 and 45.
Guzman Lopez was arrested in July 2024 after landing on a private plane in the El Paso area. He was arrested along with Mexican drug lord Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, one of the most important drug lords in Mexican history, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo.
Current and former US officials, who requested anonymity to speak frankly about the events, told Reuters at the time that Guzman Lopez lured Zambada to the United States, a major coup for US authorities.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez, another son of El Chapo, pleaded guilty in July to two counts of drug distribution and two counts of participating in a continuing criminal enterprise. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment.
El Chapo was extradited to the United States in 2017 and is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison.