Mariel Colon, an attorney for the wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo”, Emma Coronel Aispuro, walks past reporters outside federal court Washington, Thursday, June 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 7:46 AM PT – Friday, June 11, 2021
The wife of notorious Mexican drug trafficker ”El Chapo” recently pleaded guilty to charges related to helping him run the multi-billion dollar Sinaloa cartel.
In federal court Thursday, Emma Coronel Aispuro pleaded guilty to three charges after being arrested in February for suspected international drug trafficking. This came after ”El Chapo” was convicted to life plus 30 years for 10 charges related to his drug trafficking operation.
“She is very happy to put this behind her…she is at ease with her decision,” stated Jeffrey Lichtman, Aispuro’s attorney. “This is obviously a difficult day…she didn’t expect to get arrested after her husband received life in prison, so this is obviously a troubling time.”
While it’s unclear why she accepted a plead agreement with the U.S. government, some speculate she may face a lower sentence in federal prison by doing so.
“She was a very minimal participant in this as noted in the plea agreement, minimal participant,” Lichtman continued. “She was a very small part of this much larger thing.”
Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney for the wife of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo”, Emma Coronel Aispuro, talks to reporters outside federal court Washington, Thursday, June 10, 2021. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
Aispuro’s attorney claimed she was a ”minimal participant” in her husband’s drug empire, but prosecutors said she was heavily involved in day-to-day operations as well as orchestrating ‘Guzman’s escape.
The 31-year old former beauty queen could face up to life in prison on one of her drug trafficking charges alone. Under U.S. sentencing guidelines, however, she will likely receive between nine and 11 years.
Her plea agreement will not require her to cooperate with U.S. authorities or provide information regarding her husband’s allies, relatives or business partners. Meanwhile, her husband is locked up in a federal supermax prison in Florence, Colorado where he is sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years.
MORE NEWS: EU Joins Calls For New Probe Into Origins Of COVID-19
Be the first to comment