Son of ‘El Chapo’ expected to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago

By CHRISTINE FERNANDO Associated Press CHICAGO AP A son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo is expected to plead guilty to U S drug trafficking charges at a Wednesday hearing He would be the first of El Chapo s sons facing similar charges in the U S to enter a plea deal Prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez and his brother Joaquin Guzman Lopez ran a faction of the Sinaloa cartel They became known locally as the Chapitos or little Chapos and federal executives in described the operation as a massive effort to send staggering quantities of fentanyl into the U S Ovidio Guzman Lopez previously pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking money laundering and firearms charges tied to his leadership role in the cartel Online court records indicate he is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday to change his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors Related Articles The present day in History July th Amendment ratified Funeral home owner accused of stashing decaying bodies expected to plead guilty in federal court Chinese man charged in Texas with stealing COVID- research from US colleges Lolo Jones Olympic Training Center ban rescinded FACT FOCUS No weather modification did not cause the deadly flash floods in Texas Speculation about a deal has been percolating for months as behind-the-scenes negotiations have quietly progressed Ovidio Guzman Lopez s father Joaquin El Chapo Guzman is serving a life sentence after being convicted in for his role as the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel having smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over years The brothers allegedly assumed their father s former role as leaders of the cartel Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico in and extradited to the United States He initially pleaded not guilty but has signaled in latest months his intent to change his plea Joaquin Guzman Lopez 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 Both men have pleaded not guilty to multiple charges Their dramatic capture prompted a surge in violence in Mexico s northern state of Sinaloa as two factions of the Sinaloa cartel clashed Longtime Chicago mob attorney Joe The Shark Lopez who has represented Chicago mobsters Mario The Arm Rainone and Anthony Tough Tony Calabrese announced he expects both of El Chapo s sons to pursue plea deals and avoid trials He estimated that Ovidio Guzman Lopez still may face about to years in prison based on the charges This is an international drug affair Lopez declared These cases are usually very solid almost unbeatable There is no upside to them going to trial because they can t win And he saw what happened when his dad went to trial Laurie Levenson law professor at Loyola Law School and a former assistant U S attorney in Los Angeles added that a plea can be strategic to avoid a revealing trial full of testimony about cartel operations and the actions of both sons and their father For Chapo I don t think he d want to get into the details on his family s conduct she commented Last week Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum expressed skepticism about the possibility of Ovidio Guzman Lopez reaching a plea deal She reminded people that Mexican soldiers died in the operation to apprehend him Ten soldiers and alleged members of the cartel died during the Jan operation What did the United States cabinet call organized crime groups in Mexico Sheinbaum sought during her daily press briefing last week To which those assembled called out terrorist organizations She suggested that by negotiating with Guzman Lopez Washington was doing one of the things President Donald Trump s administration has revealed not to do Associated Press writer Fabiola S nchez in Mexico City contributed to this overview