US prosecutors won't seek death penalty for son of Mexican drug cartel leader 'El Chapo'
Federal prosecutors won't seek the death penalty for the son of notorious Mexican drug kingpin 'El Chapo' if he's convicted of multiple charges in Chicago.
U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros filed a one-sentence notice Friday saying he would not seek the death penalty against Joaquin Guzman Lopez. The notice did not offer any explanation.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez's attorney, listed in online court records as Jeffrey Lichtman, said in an email to The Associated Press on Tuesday that he was pleased with the decision 'as it's the correct one."
'Joaquin and I are looking forward to resolving the charges against him,' Lichtman said.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez's father is Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, former leader of the Sinaloa cartel. According to federal prosecutors, El Chapo smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. He was convicted in 2019 on multiple conspiracy counts and sentenced to life in a U.S. prison later that year.
Prosecutors allege Joaquin Guzman Lopez and his brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, ran a faction of the cartel known as the 'Chapitos,' or little Chapos, that has been identified as a main exporter of fentanyl to the U.S. Prosecutors unsealed sweeping indictments in 2023 against dozens of members of the Sinaloa cartel, including the brothers.
Federal authorities arrested Joaquin Guzman Lopez and another longtime Sinaloa leader, Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, in July in Texas after they landed in the U.S. on a private plane.
Joaquin Guzman Lopez has been indicted on eight counts, including money laundering, drug dealing and conspiracy to distribute drugs. He has pleaded not guilty.
Zambada has said Joaquin Guzman Lopez kidnapped him and brought him to the U.S. He faces multiple counts in federal court in New York, including international distribution of cocaine, money laundering and manufacturing drugs for illegal importation. He has pleaded not guilty.
Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested in Mexico in 2023 and extradited to the United States. He's charged in federal court in Chicago with money laundering, drug and firearm offenses. He has pleaded not guilty but online court records indicate that he is scheduled to appear in court on July 9 to change his plea as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Lichtman is also representing Ovidio Guzman Lopez. He declined in an email to provide any details about an agreement.
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JPMorgan Chase is making moves behind the scenes to eventually replace its longtime CEO Jamie Dimon, who is expected to retire within five years. Dimon, 69, indicated in a Monday interview with Fox Business that he intends to step away from America's largest consumer bank in 'several years,' adding that he loves the job. On Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that JPMorgan put Marianne Lake in charge of strategic growth and the firm's international consumer bank. Lake, 56, is one of the leading contenders to replace Dimon when the time comes, and her promotion suggests that she may be first in line. Lake took over from Sanoke Viswanathan, 50, who left to become the CEO of data company FactSet. She's now the head of JPMorgan's consumer and community banking division, which serves 84 million customers in the US. Doug Petno and Troy Rohrbaugh, who together lead JPMorgan's commercial and investment banking operations, are also vying for the top job. What Petno has going for him is his length of service. He's been at the bank for 35 years and has held numerous roles at the company. By comparison, Lake has been at JPMorgan for 25 years, while Rohrbaugh has been there for 20 years. Jenn Piepszak was a real possibility to become CEO several months ago. She effectively took herself out of the running when she accepted the COO job in January. Piepszak replaced former COO Daniel Pinto, who will serve as the company's president until he retires in 2026. Pinto, too, was once considered someone who could step into the CEO role, as he previously assumed those responsibilities when Dimon had to undergo emergency heart surgery in 2020. Mary Erdoes, CEO of asset and wealth management, is considered a dark horse in the leadership race. She has been at the firm for nearly 30 years. JPMorgan could surprise everyone and go with an outside hire, but that is very unlikely. Daily Mail reached out to the bank for comment. In April, the bank's Board of Directors identified potential successors to Dimon and all of them were internal candidates. Dimon himself was an internal hire. In 2000, he became the CEO of Bank One, overseeing that firm's operations until it merged with JPMorgan in 2004. He was first selected to be COO at JPMorgan before being hired as CEO in December 2005. All this jockeying at JPMorgan comes as Dimon made a headline-grabbing appearance Friday at the inaugural Regan National Economic Forum, where he talked with his usual brash candor about today's hot-button political issues. On a panel with CNBC's Morgan Brennan, he sounded the alarm about the ballooning national debt and warned that if the United States doesn't take its role as the world's sole superpower seriously, the US dollar could cease being the world reserve currency. He also advanced the idea that leaders at every level of government are bungling the country's future. 'The amount of mismanagement is extraordinary - by state, by city, for pensions, and that stuff is going to kill us,' he said. All these statements and more got Brennan to ask Dimon whether he'd consider running for office, a question that got many in the audience to gasp. 'What would be the scenario that you would entertain to consider public service?' she asked. Dimon paused for a beat, then said, 'Alright, ready? I'll tell you. If I thought I could really win, which I don't think I could.' That response apparently caught the eye of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, who wrote a lengthy article about why Dimon could be a dynamic choice to be the next president. Anthony Scaramucci, a financier who served as White House communications director for 10 days in 2017 before being fired by Trump, posted about Sonnenfeld's Tuesday piece in Fortune Magazine, calling it 'spot on.' Sonnenfeld argued that Dimon is a commanding presence and a sensible moderate who could, if he decided to run as a Democrat, unite a party that is in complete disarray. The conventional wisdom is that the Democrats are largely without a true leader after Vice President Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump in November. A CNN/Gallup poll released on Sunday seems to bear that out, with just 16 percent of Americans believing the Democratic party has strong leaders. Sonnenfeld also cast Dimon as an unapologetic truth-teller even when it doesn't suit him, writing that this is a 'rare quality found only in the best leaders.' As an example, he pointed to a leaked recording of Dimon at a company town hall, where he launched into a foul-mouthed rant against employees who wanted to continue working from home. Dimon also has a realistic claim to the centrist label, Sonnenfeld wrote, as he criticized both Democrats and Republicans. Although Dimon, a registered Democrat, continues to praise Trump for growing the economy in his first term, he hasn't been shy to slam the president for his Liberation Day tariffs and his decision to establish a strategic bitcoin reserve. In January 2024, he was far more conciliatory, saying, 'Take a step back, be honest. He was kind of right about NATO, kind of right on immigration. He grew the economy quite well. Trade tax reform worked. He was right about some of China.' Back then, he was warning that Democrats' incendiary rhetoric about Trump and MAGA could cost them the upcoming election. Whether or not the Democrats' approach to Trump supporters was the main factor in them losing, the fact is, Trump cruised to a second term relatively handily. Sonnenfeld wrote that Dimon could be the antidote to Trumpism, essentially saying that while Trump plays the role of a titan of industry, Dimon is the real deal. He pointed to Trump's multiple business bankruptcies, despite inheriting nearly half a billion from his father, Fred Trump. Meanwhile, JPMorgan stock has risen nearly 1,100 percent since Dimon became CEO. Adding to Dimon's potential as a leading political figure, he is not accustomed to having someone telling him what to do, very much like Trump. When speculation bubbled up last year that both the Harris and Trump campaigns were considering Dimon as Treasury Secretary, he had this to say: 'I've not had a boss in 25 years and I am not ready to start now.'
