Ms Coronel Aispuro, pictured at her husband's trial in 2019, is accused of helping him run the Sinaloa cartel. (Photo by= Reuters) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] The wife of infamous Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has pleaded guilty to a range of charges including conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs. Appearing in court in Washington, Emma Coronel Aispuro, 31, admitted to helping Guzmán run the Sinaloa drugs cartel and assisting in his prison escape in 2015.
She could face life in prison and be fined up to $10 million (£7.1 million). She pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, conspiring to launder money, and engaging in financial dealings with the Sinaloa drug cartel. Coronel Aispuro - who made a plea agreement - also admitted to playing a role in her husband's escape from prison in 2015. Coronel Aispuro is a dual US-Mexico citizen, a former beauty pageant winner, a journalism student, and the mother of twins with Guzmán. According to previous interviews given to US media, she first met him at a dance when she was 17 and he was 49.
Meanwhile, Guzmán, 63, is currently serving a life sentence in Colorado for drug trafficking and money laundering. Authorities say the Sinaloa cartel was the biggest supplier of drugs to the US. She attended nearly every day of her husband's three-month trial in New York, during which she heard not only grim accounts of murder and rape, but also claims that he had spied on her and other mistresses.