The future of Los Chapitos is still up in the air. The United States authorities asked this Tuesday that the court give them more time to refine the final details in the negotiations to reach a plea agreement. Both sides made clear at the latest hearing, held in the Northern District Court of Illinois in Chicago, that their priority is for the defendants to plead guilty to avoid going to trial. The prosecutors announced that they hope to reach an agreement with Ovidio Guzmán, alias The Mouseno later than February 27, when the next court hearing is scheduled. The Prosecutor’s Office added that they hope that the conversations about the case of Joaquín Guzmán The Güero are extended and their next hearing was scheduled until March 19. The extension extends the mystery about contacting the US justice system to become collaborators and expose other Mexican bosses in exchange for benefits in that country’s legal system.
Prosecutors said they have continued to work with the Guzmán family’s legal representatives and are confident in the possibility of reaching an agreement and concluding the case without the need for a trial. They explained, however, that one of the issues is that Ovidio Guzmán also faces accusations of drug trafficking and other crimes in New York and that both parties are still discussing whether the plea agreement being negotiated in Illinois would also put an end to the case in New York. or not. In the specific case of the Mouse, the question is whether the Prosecutor’s Office and the defense can agree on that point. The authorities hope to have a response from the 34-year-old minor from Los Chapitos within a month and a half. El Ratón, one of the most visible faces of the Sinaloa Cartel faction commanded by Chapo’s heirs, was arrested in January 2023 and extradited in September of that year to the United States.
Regarding Joaquín Guzmán, 38 years old, the authorities justified a longer extension because the negotiations are more recent than those of his brother. El Güero surrendered on July 25 after landing at a rural airport near the border city of El Paso and, his father’s old partner. Both brothers, as well as Iván Archivaldo and Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, face charges in the United States, which were announced in April 2023.
The defense of Los Chapitos had already announced since last October 21, after Ovidio Guzmán’s last hearing in Chicago, that their clients were exploring the possibility of pleading guilty. On this last occasion, both brothers were not present, despite the fact that they had been summoned by Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman. His main lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, also did not appear due to scheduling issues, judicial sources told EL PAÍS.
One of the factors that add uncertainty to the legal situation of Chapo’s children is the arrival of and successive changes in the main agencies of the US Government. “In 20 days we won’t know which office is going to do what,” Judge Coleman commented during the hearing. During the hearing, the phrase “I don’t understand anything” was also heard on a couple of occasions while the telephone connection with Lichtman was being made. The defendants did not participate in the call and will be informed by their lawyers, according to those same sources.
In Mexico, Joaquín Guzmán was identified by the Attorney General’s Office (FGR) as and is also accused of having handed him over to US agencies, under the controversial charge of “treason.” The FGR announced in a statement published at the end of August that it was also investigating. Lawyers for the Guzmán family repeatedly denied that their clients conspired to bring down their former partner.
Since the scandal surrounding the fall of Mayo, versions had circulated about the alleged betrayal within the Sinaloa Cartel, one of the most powerful criminal groups in the world. The Mexican authorities even adopted that hypothesis as their main line of investigation. After weeks of tensions and fears of revenge, both families have been involved since last September, which has triggered violence in Culiacán, their historic stronghold in northwest Mexico.
Next week it will be Zambada’s turn, who has his next hearing in New York on January 15 before Judge Brian Cogan, the same one who sentenced Chapo to life in prison. Both cases are far from writing their final chapter, amid diplomatic tensions, on the verge of four months of war in Sinaloa and less than two weeks before Trump returns to the White House, with the promise of imposing a strong hand against the cartels. , next January 20.
