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Son of 'El Chapo' to Plead Guilty in U.S. Court as Potential Plea Deal Emerges

Joaquín Guzmán López, a son of jailed Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, is due to plead guilty next week in a U.S. federal court to narcotics trafficking charges. He was arrested in Texas in July 2024 and is set to change his plea at a Chicago hearing. His brother Ovidio previously accepted a plea deal and acknowledged the siblings—known as “Los Chapitos”—took over cartel operations after their father's 2016 arrest. Mexican officials link related cartel infighting to roughly 1,200 deaths and 1,400 disappearances, and U.S. authorities blame the cartel for large-scale fentanyl trafficking.

10:16 AM, 11/29/2025Security
Son of 'El Chapo' to Plead Guilty in U.S. Court as Potential Plea Deal Emerges

Joaquín Guzmán López, one of the sons of jailed Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, is expected to enter a guilty plea next week in a U.S. federal court on narcotics trafficking charges, according to federal court records.

Guzmán López, who was arrested in July 2024 in Texas, initially pleaded not guilty. Federal filings released Friday indicate he is set to change his plea at a hearing on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, where prosecutors say they will not seek the death penalty.

His brother Ovidio Guzmán previously accepted a plea agreement in July 2025, pleading guilty to conspiracy related to drug trafficking and counts tied to participation in a criminal enterprise. Ovidio acknowledged that he and his siblings—known collectively as “Los Chapitos” (Little Chapos)—assumed leadership of their father’s cartel operations after his 2016 arrest.

Two other brothers, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, have also been indicted in the United States on drug-trafficking charges but remain at large. In June, U.S. authorities imposed additional sanctions on those two brothers and raised the reward for each capture to $10 million over alleged fentanyl trafficking.

Guzmán López was detained after arriving in Texas on a small private aircraft that also carried Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, a co‑founder of the Sinaloa cartel. Zambada later said he had been misled about the plane’s destination and claimed he was taken against his will to be handed over to U.S. authorities.

Mexican officials say the arrest intensified a violent feud within the cartel between the faction led by the “Los Chapitos” brothers and another aligned with Zambada. Authorities attribute roughly 1,200 deaths and about 1,400 disappearances to that infighting. U.S. officials have accused the Sinaloa cartel of trafficking fentanyl into the United States, a synthetic opioid that has driven tens of thousands of overdose deaths in recent years.

The Sinaloa cartel is among six Mexican drug-trafficking organizations designated by the U.S. government as global terrorist organizations. Guzmán López is scheduled to appear in the Chicago courtroom at 1:30 p.m. local time (19:30 GMT) on Monday.

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