El Chapo’s son pleads guilty in US drug case, cuts deal with prosecutors

Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleads guilty to drug trafficking and to kidnapping an individual believed to be Sinaloa cartel leader Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada.Published On 2 Dec 2025Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, has pleaded guilty in a Chicago court to two counts of drug trafficking and organised crime for his role in Mexico’s notorious Sinaloa Cartel, reversing his original not guilty stance following his arrest last year.Wearing an orange jumpsuit and matching shoes, Guzman Lopez spoke sparingly in court on Monday. Early in the hearing, Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois Sharon Coleman asked what he did for work.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Once elusive Mexican drug kingpin ‘El Mayo’ Zambada pleads guilty in USlist 2 of 4No death penalty for son of Mexican drug boss ‘El Chapo’: US prosecutorslist 3 of 4Son of drug lord ‘El Chapo’ pleads guilty in US drug-trafficking caselist 4 of 4Why has Mexico handed over drug cartel leaders to US? Who are they?end of list“Drug trafficking,” Guzman Lopez replied.“Oh, that’s your job,” Coleman said with a chuckle.With the guilty plea, Guzman Lopez is expected to avoid life in prison as part of a deal in which he cooperates with US prosecutors and pays an $80m charge representing the proceeds of his crimes, according to reports.Even so, he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison, according to Andrew Erskine, a lawyer representing the federal government.Guzman Lopez will be sentenced by a judge at a later date, and will have no opportunity to appeal the sentence as part of the plea deal, according to reports.“The government has been very fair with Joaquin thus far,” Guzman Lopez’s defence lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, said after the hearing.“I do appreciate the fact that the Mexican government didn’t interfere,” Lichtman said.According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, in the 35-page plea deal, Guzman Lopez acknowledged that he and his brothers advanced the cartel’s operations by bribing officials and deploying firearms and other weapons to carry out violence targeting law enforcement, rival traffickers, and even members of their own organisation.Jeffrey Lichtman, lawyer for El Chapo’s son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, speaks to the media at the Dirksen US court [Vincent Alban/Reuters]The ‘Chapitos’Guzman Lopez and his brother Ovidio, two of El Chapo’s four sons who are known in Mexico as the “Chapitos” or “little Chapos”, are on trial in the US and accused of overseeing a powerful faction of the Sinaloa cartel that they inherited from their father.