U.S. federal prosecutors will not seek Joaquin Guzman Lopez’s death sentence if convicted at trial, court documents show.
Federal prosecutors in the United States said they would not seek the death penalty of El Chapo, the son of Mexican drug lord, if he was found guilty of multiple drug trafficking charges when he was tried.
According to media reports, federal prosecutors in Chicago filed a single sentence on May 23, saying they would not seek the death penalty of Joaquin Guzman Lopez, the son of Joaquin Guzman, the former leader of the Mexican feared Sinaloa Cartel, who serves life in a US prison.
The notice did not provide a description of the decision or further details by federal prosecutors.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez, 38, was charged in 2023 with three brothers known as “Chapitos” or small Chapo on US drug trafficking and money laundering charges after assuming leadership in his father’s drug cartel when “El Chapo” was extradited to the United States in 2017.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez’s lawyer said in an email to the Associated Press on Tuesday that he was pleased with the federal prosecutor’s decision that it was “the right thing.”
“Joaquin and I look forward to solving the accusations against him,” Lichtman said.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez pleaded not guilty to five counts of drug trafficking, conspiracy and money laundering against him.
He was taken to US custody in a dramatic July 2024 arrest along with Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel at a New Mexico airfield.
Zambada also pleaded not guilty. However, his lawyer told Reuters he was willing to plead guilty if prosecutors agreed to spare him the death penalty.
Court records show that another brother, Ovidio Guzman, is expected to plead guilty to drug trafficking charges against him at a July 9 court hearing in Chicago.
“El Chapo” Guzman is sentenced to life in Colorado’s largest security prison.
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