11/21/2023 0 Comments Ema coronel aispuro![]() The Justice Department initially issued a press release touting Coronel’s “arrest” in February, but days later VICE News reported, based on two sources familiar with the case, that she actually turned herself in and was aware of the charges against her when she came to the U.S. citizen and such "financial entanglements" with a sanctioned narcotics trafficker like her husband are illegal. Nardozzi also said Coronel "controlled commercial and residential properties" owned by El Chapo in Mexico, and "derived income from them by renting them." The prosecutor said the dealings violated the so-called “Kingpin Act” because Coronel is a U.S. Nardozzi said Coronel was guilty of conspiring to smuggle “well over” 450 kilos of cocaine, along with heroin and more than 90,000 kilos of marijuana. ![]() Prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi, who was part of the Chapo prosecution team, said the evidence would include “witness testimony” along with “evidence generated by law enforcement investigation and other means,” without offering specifics. Coronel said she "completed studies at the university level" and had no history of drug addiction or mental illness, and that her attorneys had explained that she would be waiving her rights to a jury trial and an appeal.Ĭontreras asked federal prosecutors to briefly lay out the case against Coronel and explain what facts they could prove beyond a reasonable doubt if the case went to trial. She was 17 years old, and she married him on her 18th birthday,” said Jeffrey Lichtman, a defense attorney who also represented Guzmán in his US trial three years ago.Coronel addressed the judge directly during her plea hearing, mostly giving one-word replies of “yes” when answering a series of questions asked by Judge Rudolph Contreras to ensure she understood the implications of her guilty plea. “She met Joaquín Guzmán when she was a minor. He was convicted in February 2019 of drug trafficking, conspiracy, kidnapping, murder and other charges, and later sentenced to life in prison.Ĭoronel’s attorney on Tuesday stressed that she was swept into the world of drug trafficking while still a minor and deserved mercy. The drug lord was recaptured in January 2016 and extradited one year later to the United States. Guzman used those communications to plan his 2015 escape from the prison, through an underground tunnel built by the cartel leading to the shower in his cell. She and Guzman have nine-year-old twin daughters together.Īs part of her plea agreement with prosecutors, Coronel admitted to acting as a courier between Guzmán and other members of the Sinaloa cartel while he was being held in Mexico’s Altiplano prison following his 2014 arrest. ![]() He noted that after her arrest, she “quickly accepted responsibility for her criminal conduct”.Ĭoronel, a US-born former beauty queen who married Guzmán while she was a teenager, was arrested at Dulles international airport outside Washington in February. The defendant acted primarily in support of her husband,” federal prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi said. “While the overall effect of the defendant’s conduct was significant, the defendant’s actual role was a minimal one. “Perhaps for this reason you feel there is a need for you to be harder on me, but I pray that you not do that,” she added.Ĭoronel pleaded guilty in June to three counts of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, conspiring to launder money and of engaging in financial dealings with the Sinaloa drug cartel.įederal prosecutors on Tuesday asked that a four-year prison term be imposed on Coronel, adding that she would be forfeiting $1.5m as part of her sentence. She added that she feared the judge might find it difficult to forgive her because she is Guzmán’s wife.
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