NEW YORK (AP) – Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is expected to plead guilty next week in a high-profile drug trafficking case. This case does not only accuse him of orchestrating a vast drug operation but also of ordering torture and plotting murders, with significant implications for the flow of cocaine, heroin, and other illicit substances into the United States.
A federal judge in Brooklyn has set a change of plea hearing for August 25 for Zambada, who has been a prominent leader of the Sinaloa cartel for many years. This development comes just two weeks after federal prosecutors announced their decision not to pursue the death penalty against him, a factor that often weighs heavily on defendants' plea decisions.
Zambada, at age 77, had previously pleaded not guilty to multiple charges, including drug trafficking, gun-related offenses, and money laundering. Allegations against him assert that under his and co-founder Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán’s leadership, the Sinaloa cartel transformed from a regional entity into the largest drug trafficking organization globally.
The order issued by Judge Brian M. Cogan did not disclose the specifics of the charges Zambada is expected to plead guilty to. Notably, Cogan was the same judge who sentenced Guzmán to life imprisonment after his conviction on drug trafficking charges in 2019. The lack of details regarding Zambada's forthcoming plea leaves many questions unanswered, particularly about his potential cooperation with authorities.
Attempts to reach Zambada’s legal representatives for comment were unsuccessful, and a spokesperson from the U.S. attorney's office in Brooklyn chose not to provide any comments at this stage.
Zambada was apprehended in Texas last year following what he described as a kidnapping incident in Mexico. A wanted fugitive for over two decades, he was detained upon his arrival at a Texas airport aboard a private plane, where he was accompanied by Guzmán’s son, Joaquín Guzmán López. The younger Guzmán has since pleaded not guilty to federal drug trafficking charges in Chicago. In a related case, his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, recently pleaded guilty to similar charges.
According to prosecutors, Zambada oversaw a highly sophisticated and violent operation, which included access to military-grade weaponry, a private security force resembling an army, and numerous “sicarios,” or hitmen, tasked with carrying out numerous assassinations, kidnappings, and acts of torture. Significantly, just months before his arrest, he allegedly ordered the murder of his own nephew, underlining the brutal nature of his reign within the cartel.
On August 5, prosecutors communicated to Judge Cogan in a letter indicating that the Attorney General, Pam Bondi, had instructed them not to seek the death penalty for Zambada, thus paving the way for a potential guilty plea without the specter of capital punishment hanging over his head.
