The son of Sinaloa drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman admitted to helping take control of his father’s empire through brutal violence and other means, striking a deal with prosecutors that could put him in prison for the rest of life.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez agreed to cooperate with U.S. Authorities across the country while pleading guilty to crimes that carry a mandatory life prison sentence at a hearing in a Chicago courtroom on Friday. However, under the deal prosecutors could allow for Guzman Lopez to possibly be sentenced to a prison term of less than life if he holds up his end of the bargain.
Guzman Lopez stood before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman wearing glasses, an orange jumpsuit and headphones that allowed him to listen to a Spanish language interpreter. He answered the judge’s questions in Spanish while flanked by four U.S. Marshals.
He pleaded guilty to drug trafficking conspiracy and engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise. As part of his plea agreement Guzman Lopez admitted to controlling the Sinaloa cartel through brutal violence, but also admitted to three specific murders and kidnappings. His sentencing is being postponed while he cooperates with authorities.
It’s been nearly two years since Guzman Lopez arrived in Chicago, having been extradited from Mexico to face sweeping charges against him and his brothers.
The so-called “Chapitos” were accused in 2023 of taking control of their father’s deadly cartel. Then-Attorney General Merrick Garland accused them of “the largest, most violent and most prolific fentanyl-trafficking operation in the world — run by the Sinaloa cartel and fueled by Chinese precursor chemical and pharmaceutical companies.”
Also charged in Chicago were Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar, Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar and Joaquin Guzman Lopez.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez is also in custody and is next due in court Sept. 15.
Though their father also faced federal drug charges in Chicago, he was prosecuted in federal court in Brooklyn. He’s now serving a life prison sentence.
El Chapo’s four sons were accused in April 2023 of torturing their enemies by electrocuting them, waterboarding them and feeding them alive to tigers. Authorities said Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Guzman Salazar kept the animals on ranches as pets.
Anne Milgram, then the DEA’s administrator, said the men took their father’s cartel and made it “more ruthless, more violent, more deadly. And they used it to spread a new poison: fentanyl.”
An indictment here tied the Chapitos to at least four killings. It said the brothers were involved in the Battle of Culiacan in the Sinaloa cartel’s stronghold in Mexico where, on Oct. 17, 2019, about 700 armed cartel members attacked government and military targets, thwarting the capture of Ovidio Guzman Lopez at the time. At least 13 people died.
The indictment said the Chapitos shipped drugs from countries in Central America and South America to Mexico using aircraft, submarines, boats and other carriers, then smuggled them into the United States using vehicles, railcars and tunnels.
The Chapitos were also accused of murder, kidnapping and assault against law enforcement, rivals and members of their own cartel. In 2017, for instance, they kidnapped two Mexican federal police officers, fatally shooting one and torturing the other before killing that officer, too.
The torture involved ripping the officer’s muscles from his arm and stuffing chili peppers into the wounds and his nose, authorities say.