U.S. 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 is 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 is 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.
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Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Mexico votes in first judicial election amid concerns over rule of law
MEXICO CITY, June 1 (Reuters) - Mexicans vote on Sunday in the country's first ever judicial elections, part of an overhaul of the nation's judiciary that critics warn could jeopardize the rule of law. The vote will elect 2,600 judges and magistrates, including all Supreme Court justices, and is part of a reform pushed by former President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador and his protege and successor President Claudia Sheinbaum. Lopez Obrador and Sheinbaum say the election will root out corruption in a flawed judiciary dominated by an out-of-touch elite and instead allow people to decide who should be a judge. But the run-up to the vote has been dominated by a scandal over some of the candidates, including a convicted drug smuggler and a former lawyer of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Opponents say the overhaul risks removing checks and balances on the ruling Morena party, by appointing judges friendly to their cause, and also allowing organized crime groups greater influence over the judicial system by running their own candidates. Mexico joins Bolivia as the only countries worldwide to conduct judicial elections at the national level, though state-level judicial elections are common in the United States and some local Swiss judges are also elected. Voters on Sunday will cast ballots for Mexico's nine Supreme Court judges, as well as for judges and magistrates across 19 of Mexico's 32 administrative divisions. More than 7,700 candidates are running for judicial posts. Pollsters expect a poor turnout, in part due to opposition calls to boycott the vote, but also because of the complexity of the process and vast number of candidates to consider. "In Mexico City we are going to vote for 50 candidates. If even discerning people with access to social media aren't checking the candidates, imagine the people who don't have this access," 22-year-old accounting student Maria Alejandra Mares told Reuters. "They're going to vote blind." Voting is not mandatory in Mexico and there is no minimum turnout required to legitimize an election. Just 37% of 1,000 people polled by Buendia & Marquez said they would come out to vote, compared to 61% who participated in the vote last June that elected President Sheinbaum. The right-wing PAN opposition party has called on supporters to boycott the election, branding it a "vulgar fraud," but Sheinbaum has vigorously defended her predecessor's reform and her party has sought to mobilize the grassroots vote. "We call on you to participate, participate, participate," Sheinbaum told a press conference on Friday, saying this would help significantly improve the current judiciary. "Participating is the best way to transform a country." Besides mandating the popular election of judges, the judicial reform, promoted last year by former President Lopez Obrador, also reduced the number of Supreme Court judges, shortened terms and eased some requirements such as minimum age and work experience. The reform's approval by lawmakers last year knocked financial markets, sparked the United States to express concern about a weaker judicial system, and sparked a strike by the country's judicial workers. "Mexico's justice system was far from perfect, and this new judicial system will not address its shortcomings," said Rodolfo Ramos, an analyst at Brazilian bank Bradesco BBI. Ramos said "the real litmus test" would come when cases against a government action reach the Supreme Court. Counting is expected to take two weeks, with the results out on June 15. In 2027, another vote is scheduled to fill over 1,000 more judicial positions.
The Herald Scotland
a day ago
- The Herald Scotland
Family business in Texas indicted in Mexican drug cartel oil scheme
A total of 2,881 of shipments Jensen's company received since May 2022 came from Mexican smugglers tied to the Cartel de Jalisco Nueva Generacion, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. Experts have previously told USA TODAY that the CJNG organized crime group is perhaps the most militant in Mexico, turning regions into essentially warzones. The case against the Jensens comes as authorities under President Donald Trump aim to apply greater pressure to cartels smuggling drugs in the U.S. In February, the U.S. State Department designated CJNG, the Sinaloa Cartel and other crime groups as terrorist organizations. "This case underscores the more aggressive and innovative approach the Southern District of Texas is taking towards combating the scourge of drug cartels," said U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. "This strategy focuses not just on the traffickers and trigger-pullers directly employed by the cartels, but also targeting their confederates and enablers." Most of the charges are against James and Maxwell Jensen, who face up to 20 years in prison for money laundering. They face up to 15 years collectively if convicted of aiding and abetting smuggling goods under false statements. Lawyers for the Jensens did not respond to repeated requests for comment. Oil smuggling is a multi-billion-dollar business for cartels, according to the Treasury Department. A Drug Enforcement Administration official called it "the largest funding source for Mexican drug cartels." American authorities' move to crack down on the Texas company handling smuggled oil comes as Mexican authorities say the practice has been a widespread issue for years with devastating effects south of the border. "The narrative is that everything bad is done in Mexico and the USA only suffers the drugs," Jesus Perez Caballero, a Mexican government researcher, told USA TODAY. "But it's impossible to do this kind of complex business without these links to support it." Mexican smugglers depend on American refiners, small-time oil producers and distributors to make money from the theft. "It's a good start to recognize that the USA is not a passive actor in this business," Caballero said. "It's as active as the Mexican one." What are the charges against the Jensens? The Jensens have operated Arroyo Terminals in Rio Hondo, Texas, since 2020, according to James Jensen's LinkedIn page. Terminals are crucial distribution points in the oil economy, storing oil as it moves between producers and refineries. Prosecutors allege that from May 2022 through April 2025, the Jensens' Texas terminals served as a key waypoint for smuggled oil from Mexico, according to the indictment. The family received a total of 2,881 shipments of stolen oil, court filings claim. The oil was shipped using fraudulent authentication papers and labels, including "waste of lube oils," the indictment alleges. The father faces up to 10 years for money laundering spending. According to the money, he used money from the smuggling operation to buy a 2024 GMC vehicle. Kelly and Zachary Jensen are charged with money laundering conspiracy. Kelly is also charged with money laundering spending conspiracy. Items they were ordered to forfeit, according to the indictment, included barges for ferrying oil, tractor trailers, the GMC vehicle, a Chevy Stingray registered to Kelly Jensen and a property in Utah where the family has roots. Ties between Mexican and American smugglers The family isn't the first in Texas to face charges related to smuggling cartel oil, according to experts. Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a researcher at the University of Houston, said the practice has been going on for years at many small-time oil operations. Smugglers ferry the oil into the U.S. aboard boats or by crossing the border where the traffic is so high that border agents are unlikely to uncover it without significant increases in border crossings. A typical scheme brings the smuggled oil to "mom and pop" operations throughout Texas, according to Krishnamoorti. The oil is then added to their own supply and by the time it makes it to refineries, it can be hard to tell the difference. The total amount of smuggled oil is "literally a drop in the ocean," said Krishnamoorti. But "it's significant for the cartels in terms of being able to steal and sell." Americans involved can make as much as $5 million per barge of smuggled oil, according to the Treasury Department. The oil is then shipped to markets around the world, from Japan and India to Africa and even right back into Mexico. Deep seated problem in Mexico Guadalupe Correa-Cabrera, a researcher at George Mason University and author of a book on Los Zetas cartel, said issues of oil smuggling in Mexico are longstanding. Mexico's state oil company Pemex has a legacy of corruption scandals and oil smuggling is just one of charges against operators. The company dates back to the nationalization in 1938 of all private oil companies in the country. Correa-Cabrera said the scrutiny of American involvement is overdue. "Somebody has to refine this crude oil or gas condensate," she said, "and there's refineries in the U.S. that sell this massively back down south." She lauded U.S. authorities for going after Americans involved in order to help fight cartels. But she fears the organized crime groups will be blamed for a more deeply rooted problem. "The cartel participation is not as important as we imagine," Correa-Cabrera said. "It's not like stealing 18-wheelers, it involves knowing about the pipes, the surveillance of the pipes, really specialized knowledge." She said the smuggling operations likely depend on everyone from engineers at the pipelines to military officials responsible for watching the border. "The stories and the coverage has been directed toward cartels," she said. "But you cannot imagine this happening without all these other parts."
BBC News
2 days ago
- BBC News
Mexico judicial reform: Candidate who defended El Chapo runs for office
As drivers sit in traffic near the Bridge of the Americas connecting Mexico with the USA, Silvia Delgado weaves between the cars handing out leaflets."I'm standing for penal judge," she says brightly. "Vote for number 12 on the ballot papers!"Most happily wind down their windows and accept a flyer from her. But in Sunday's rather unique election – the first of two votes by which Mexicans will choose the country's entire judiciary by direct ballot – Silvia Delgado is not an ordinary absent from the short biography on her pamphlets is the name of her best-known client: she was the defence lawyer for the notorious drug lord, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmá critics say her past defending the leader of the Sinaloa Cartel should disqualify her from standing as a judge. She gives that idea short shrift."Why should it? For doing my job?" she retorts, her heckles immediately raised at any suggestion of a conflict of interest."For defending people's individual guarantees? For mounting an adequate technical defence for a human being? Why should that make me illegitimate?" she asks. Silvia Delgado has not been convicted of any crime, is not facing any charges and is not under investigation – whether over her links to El Chapo or anything a leading human rights and transparency organisation in Mexico called Defensorxs has included her in a list of 19 "high risk candidates" in the election. As well as Ms Delgado, the list includes a candidate with a drug trafficking conviction and another facing accusations of orchestrating violence against director of Defensorxs, Miguel Alfonso Meza, believes the so-called "high risk candidates" are a danger to the legitimacy of Mexico's justice system:"Someone that has already worked with a cartel, it is very difficult that they get out, even if it was only as a lawyer. It's not even about whether she's a good person or a bad person," says Mr Meza, referring to Silvia Delgado."The Sinaloa Cartel is not only 'El Chapo' Guzman. It is a company that has criminal and economic interests which are being resolved in the justice system. The cartel could pressure her to show loyalty because she has already been their employee."Silvia Delgado visibly stiffens at the mention of Defensorxs and Miguel Alfonso Meza."It's completely stupid," she bristles, claiming she has challenged them to "dig into her past as much as they like". She also dismisses their main accusation that she was paid with drug money and could be compromised if she is elected judge."How can you prove that? I received a payment which was the same as any normal monthly payment which was paid to me by lawyers, members of his legal team. I'm not his daughter or his sister or anything. I'm a professional." Ms Delgado is competing for one of more than 7,500 judicial position up for grabs – from local magistrates to all nine Supreme Court it was under discussion, the judicial reform prompted widespread protests by law students and a strike by workers in the legal system. Its critics maintain that electing every judge in Mexico amounts to the politicisation of the country's justice system."Of course, it's a political attack [on the judiciary]," says Miguel Alfonso Meza."Former President Andrés Manuel López Obrador didn't like to have constraints from the judicial power. When the pressure became too great and the constraints too tight, the only solution they found was to remove all the judges in the country," he reform was passed before President Claudia Sheinbaum was sworn in, but she is a firm supporter of it and polls suggest it has broad approval among the electorate point out that the United States, Switzerland and Bolivia elect many of their judges. But Mexico will become the first country in the world to elect all of them. Markets remain unconvinced with investors fearful of the prospect of the ruling party controlling the presidency, the legislative branch and the Alfonso Meza believes that problems will arise from "the agreements and negotiations judges have to make with political actors… in order to get the support they need to win the elections". One of the 64 candidates seeking a seat on the Supreme Court is Olivia Aguirre Bonilla. Also from Ciudad Juárez, her legal background is in human rights law and as an activist against gender-based violence in the notoriously dangerous border all the candidates, Ms Aguirre Bonilla has had to pay for her campaign out of her own pocket – candidates are banned from accepting public or private funding and forbidden from purchasing advertising spots. As such, she's primarily used social media to push out her 6-point plan from clamping down on exorbitant salaries to opening the Supreme Court hearings to the she acknowledges the criticisms over the potential politicisation of Mexico's justice system, Aguirre Bonilla believes the vote is an opportunity for meaningful change of a collapsed, corrupted and nepotistic judiciary."I think all the citizens in Mexico are politicised, and we're all part of public life," she says."The difference here is that our 'untouchable' legal system – and it was untouchable because it was controlled by the elites, by privilege – for the first time in history will be voted in. It will be democratised through the popular vote."Many people in the judiciary were there through influence and familial connections, Aguirre Bonilla argues, and it lacks the legitimacy of the executive and legislative branches."This vote will grant the justice system true independence as it's not chosen by the President of the Republic but elected by the people of Mexico to represent them." So far, the arguments over constitutionality and legitimacy, over the process and the candidates have been bitter and all eyes turn to the polling stations, particularly on the turnout and abstention rates as indicators of Mexicans' backing for the for Silvia Delgado, the woman who defended Mexico's most wanted drug lord, she just hopes the people of Ciudad Juárez will respect her work enough to allow her to sit in judgement of other criminals who are brought before her.
