Son of ‘El Chapo’ pleads guilty in US drug case, promising cooperation
for lighter sentence
[July 12, 2025]
By CHRISTINE FERNANDO
CHICAGO (AP) — A son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin “El Chapo”
pleaded guilty Friday to U.S. drug trafficking charges, becoming the
first of the drug lord's sons 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 authorities in 2023
described the operation as a massive effort to send “staggering”
quantities of fentanyl into the U.S.
As part of a plea agreement, Ovidio Guzman Lopez admitted to helping
oversee the production and smuggling of large quantities of cocaine,
heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and fentanyl into the United States,
fueling a crisis that has contributed to tens of thousands of overdose
deaths annually.
Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and
firearms charges tied to his leadership role in the cartel. Terms of the
deal, including sentencing recommendations or cooperation agreements,
were not immediately disclosed.
Speculation about a deal had percolated for months, as behind-the-scenes
negotiations quietly progressed.
Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney for the two brothers, said Friday he would
wait until Ovidio Guzman Lopez was sentenced before discussing whether
the agreement was a good deal.
Guzman Lopez's sentencing was postponed while he cooperates with U.S.
authorities, as he agreed to do so on Friday. Whether he avoids a life
in prison sentence depends on whether authorities say he has held up his
end of the agreement.
Lichtman said he didn’t know whether the case against Joaquin Guzman
Lopez could be resolved with a plea deal, noting that it is “completely
different.”
“Remember, Joaquin was arrested in America well after Ovidio was, so it
takes time,” he said.
Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and former
assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said that Guzman Lopez, by
pleading guilty, may have “saved other family members.”
“In this way, he has some control over who he’s cooperating against and
what the world will know about that cooperation.”
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This frame grab from video, provided by the Mexican government,
shows Ovidio Guzman Lopez being detained in Culiacan, Mexico, Oct.
17, 2019. (CEPROPIE via AP File)
Levenson called the plea change a “big step” for the U.S. government
and said Guzman Lopez could provide “a roadmap of how to identify
members of the cartel.”
“This is big,” she said. “The best way for them to take out the
cartel is to find out about its operations from an insider, and
that’s what they get from his cooperation.”
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday criticized the “lack
of coherence” in American policy toward Mexican cartels,
highlighting the disparity between the U.S. government declaring
cartels foreign terrorist organizations, but also striking plea
deals with their leaders.
Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is serving a life sentence after being
convicted in 2019 for his role as the former leader of the Sinaloa
cartel, having smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into
the United States over 25 years. The brothers allegedly assumed
their father’s former role as leaders of the cartel.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico in 2023 and extradited to
the United States. He initially pleaded not guilty but had signaled
in recent months his intent to change his plea.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez and another longtime Sinaloa leader, Ismael “El
Mayo” Zambada, were arrested in July 2024 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.
___
Associated Press writer Megan Janetsky contributed from Mexico City.
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