Son of 'El Chapo' pleads guilty to US drug charges

A son of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has pleaded guilty to four criminal counts in two related drug trafficking cases targeting the Sinaloa Cartel.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug distribution and two counts of participation in a continuing criminal enterprise before US District Judge Sharon Coleman in Chicago.

He faces a possible life sentence.

Wearing an orange jumpsuit and speaking softly through an interpreter, he admitted to a litany of crimes outlined in a pair of federal indictments, including murder, kidnapping and bribery.

His lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

His next court appearance will be in six months.

In indictments filed in New York and Chicago, prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez and his brothers - known as the "Chapitos," or little Chapos - revived the Sinaloa Cartel after their father's arrest in 2016 by embracing fentanyl, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in profits by sending the deadly opioid to the US.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, also known as "El Raton" (The Mouse) or "Raton Nuevo," (New Mouse) was extradited to the US from Mexico in September 2023 as part of the federal government's war on fentanyl, a highly lethal drug that killed nearly 200 people daily in the US in 2023.

That death toll has been a flashpoint in US President Donald Trump's trade negotiations with Mexico, with Trump demanding Mexico do more to stop the flow of fentanyl in exchange for tariff relief.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez's brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez was arrested in El Paso along with Sinaloa kingpin Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada last July in a dramatic coup for US authorities, who recruited Joaquin Guzman Lopez to lure Zambada into the country on a private plane.

Also known as "El Guero" or "Guero Moreno," Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering charges, and prosecutors say they will not pursue the death penalty against him.

Zambada, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo, has also pleaded not guilty.

In February, his lawyer told Reuters he would be willing to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed to spare him the death penalty.

El Chapo is serving a life sentence at a maximum security prison in Colorado after his 2019 drug trafficking conviction.