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Two of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera’ s sons have now been formally indicted for drug-related crimes by the United States Justice Department .
Joaquín (34) and Ovidio (28) Guzmán López
, both sons of the Mexican drug lord and Griselda López, the Sinaloan criminal’s second wife, were accused of trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana between 2008 and 2018 , according to a press release.
The case was introduced before Washington courts on April 2018 , though it was kept sealed until last week, a few days after ‘El Chapo’ was found guilty of running a continuing criminal enterprise as leader of Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, along with drug trafficking, weapons, and money laundering conspiracy charges. He faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison, with no possibility of parole.
Guzmán’s sons, nicknamed ‘El Güero’ (Blondie) and ‘El Ratón’ (The Mouse) , now face charges of conspiracy and distribution of at least five kilos of cocaine, 500 grams of methamphetamine, and a thousand kilos of marijuana . If they are convicted, they will face sentences from 10 years to life in prison.
The United States government believes that both fugitives are on Mexican territory. According to legal documents consulted by EL UNIVERSAL , U.S. prosecutors have initiated proceedings to request the extradition of both suspects upon arrest.
One of the prosecutors who participated in ‘El Chapo’s’ trial, Anthony Nardozzi, will be leading the case, which has been assigned to Judge Rudolph Contreras.
The case came to light after one of the jurors who convicted Guzmán told Vice News that the drug lord intended to seek a new trial since jurors read media about the case despite the judge’s instructions not to, a lawyer for Guzmán said in a court filing on Friday.
“Mr. Guzmán intends to file motion for a new trial based on the disclosures in the article and to request an evidentiary hearing to determine the extent of the misconduct,”
lawyer Eduardo Balarezo said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan , who presided over the trial in Brooklyn federal court .
Normally, a motion for a new trial must be filed within 14 days of a verdict , putting the deadline next Tuesday. Balarezo asked for an additional 30 days to file the motion.
Another son of Guzmán, Jesús Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, was also accused of several drug trafficking offences on U.S. soil in 2014 . He is now on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)’s most wanted list .
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