Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of convicted drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking and other charges in the United States on Tuesday.
His appearance in federal court in Chicago came five days after he and accused Sinaloa Cartel leader Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada flew into an airport near El Paso, where they were both arrested.
Zambada — who faces charges for a range of crimes including drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping and money laundering — pleaded not guilty last Friday.
Wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and sporting a goatee, Guzmán López entered his not-guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman during a hearing that lasted about 15 minutes. The 38-year-old alleged Sinaloa Cartel operative known as “El Güero Moreno” faces five counts, including drug trafficking and money laundering charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted on one of the counts.
After the hearing, Guzmán López’s lawyer told reporters that his client does not have a deal with United States authorities.
“Take it from me as someone who knows, rather than from someone who thinks he knows or an anonymous source,” said Jeffrey Lichtman, who represented Guzmán Loera at his 2018–19 trial and is also the lawyer for another of El Chapo’s sons, Ovidio, who was extradited to the United States last September.
“We’ve got no agreement with the government. There has never been an agreement with the government with Joaquín Guzmán López. Period,” he said.
Earlier in court, Guzmán answered the judge’s questions in “heavily accented but fluent English,” according to a Chicago Tribune report. He responded to most questions by simply saying “Yes, your honor” or “No, your honor,” Reuters reported.
Judge Johnson ruled that Guzmán López must remain in custody pending trial. A trial date has not been set, but he is scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 30.
How Guzmán López and Zambada came to be arrested at the Doña Ana County International Jetport last Thursday was not discussed at the hearing in Chicago.
The United States government told the Mexican government that it was informed on several occasions that Guzmán López was considering handing himself in to U.S. authorities, but it stressed that no deal had been reached with the alleged cartel member before he arrived at the airport.
A lawyer for Zambada said Saturday that Guzmán López “forcibly kidnapped” his client before he was “forced” onto a U.S.-bound plane.
U.S. officials who spoke to The New York Times supported that version of events.
U.S. officials previously told media outlets that Guzmán López tricked Zambada into getting onto the plane by telling him they were going to inspect clandestine airfields or real estate within Mexico.
The Chicago Tribune reported that Lichtman “criticized — but did not refute —” the allegation by Zambada’s lawyer that Guzmán López “forcibly kidnapped” El Mayo and put him on a plane against his will. Lichtman noted that his client is not facing any charges related to that allegation.
“He’s not being accused of kidnapping. When the government accuses him, then I’ll take notice. When lawyers who are trying to score points with the media make accusations, then I ignore that because it’s meaningless,” he said.
Lichtman repeatedly told reporters that he couldn’t answer questions about how his client came to be on a U.S.-bound plane with Zambada.
The story, he said, “seems to be changing every few minutes.”
“Eventually it will all come out. But as a defense lawyer, it’s just noise. I’m here to help the man and get him the best possible result. I’m not here to respond to the internet. … Whatever happened was not done at the direction of the [U.S.] government,” Lichtman said.
The lawyer said that he had spoken only briefly with Guzmán López — who reportedly worked as a Sinaloa Cartel financial operator — and found him to be “intelligent.”
“… He’s happy to be here. That’s all I can really say at this point,” Lichtman said, a remark that seemed somewhat strange given that his client could face the death penalty if convicted.
“I like him already. He’s somebody I can relate to. Just like I related to his father, just like I related to Ovidio,” he said.
The four ‘Chapitos’ were indicted in the US in 2023
The United States Justice Department (DOJ) announced charges against Joaquín Guzmán López and his three brothers Iván, Alfredo and Ovidio in April last year. They are accused of large-scale drug trafficking, money laundering and violent crimes.
“The Chapitos pioneered the manufacture and trafficking of fentanyl – the deadliest drug threat our country has ever faced – flooded it into the United States for the past eight years and killed hundreds of thousands of Americans,” Anne Milgram, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration, said at the time.
The DOJ said that after the arrest of El Chapo in 2016 and his extradition to the United States the following year, the four Guzmán brothers “allegedly assumed their father’s former role as leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, along with Zambada García and Dámaso López Núñez, aka Licenciado.”
The department said that the Chapitos “are alleged to have repeatedly and consistently transported lethal amounts of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl” to the United States.
“The Chapitos allegedly used cargo aircraft, private aircraft, submarines and other submersible and semi-submersible vessels, container ships, supply vessels, go-fast boats, fishing vessels, buses, rail cars, tractor trailers, automobiles, and private and commercial interstate and foreign carriers to transport their drugs and precursor chemicals,” the DOJ said.
“They allegedly maintained a network of couriers, tunnels, and stash houses throughout Mexico and the United States to further their drug-trafficking activities.”
While Joaquín and Ovidio are now in U.S. custody – the latter was captured in Culiacán in early 2023 – Iván and Alfredo remain at large. A fifth brother, Édgar, was murdered in 2008.
Guzmán Loera, who was found guilty on drug trafficking charges in February 2019 and sentenced to life in prison in July of that year, is incarcerated in the Florence Supermax prison in Colorado.
President-elect Sheinbaum calls for US to provide more information on cartel arrests
At a press conference on Tuesday, President-elect Claudia Sheinbaum said that United States authorities should provide to Mexico all the information it has about the arrests of Guzmán López and Zambada.
“There has to be more information. Yesterday I listened to the report that the Security Minister [Rosa Icela Rodríguez] gave of the letter the United States sent, … [but] what we know is limited,” she said.
“… If there is more information, they should provide more information, and not speculate either,” Sheinbaum said, making an apparent reference to the different versions of events anonymous U.S. officials have outlined to the media.
President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Monday he was confident that the U.S. government would provide “all the information” it has to Mexico.
He reiterated that possible U.S. involvement in the arrests from Mexico could not be ruled out, but stressed that “there is no proof” of that having occurred.
“What we can say is that the government of Mexico didn’t participate,” López Obrador said.
With reports from Reforma, Reuters and The Chicago Tribune
