Son of jailed Mexican drug lord ‘El Chapo’ to plead guilty in US court | Drugs News

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the four sons of Sinaloa Cartel’s ‘El Chapo’, has changed his plea to guilty, court documents reveal.

The son of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman will be indicted on drug trafficking charges in the United States next week, according to federal court documents.

Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of the four sons of jailed Sinaloa cartel leader “El Chapo,” originally pleaded not guilty following his arrest in Texas in July 2024.

But federal documents released Friday show Guzman Lopez is scheduled to change his plea at a hearing Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

One of his three brothers, Ovidio Guzmán, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to two counts of conspiracy and participating in the activities of a criminal enterprise related to drug trafficking, as part of a deal made in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Ovidio Guzmán also admitted that he and his brothers, known collectively as “Los Chapitos” (The Little Chapos), had taken over their father’s operations within the cartel after his arrest in 2016.

Mexican broadcaster MVS Noticias said that Guzmán López’s guilty plea could mean that “a new chapter is about to be written in the history of drug trafficking”.

“The move raises a number of questions about possible ongoing negotiations between him and U.S. officials,” the news outlet said.

ABC 7 Chicago news channel said federal prosecutors have said they will no longer seek the death penalty for Guzmán López, and “a plea agreement is now in the works”.

He is scheduled to appear in a Chicago court on Monday at 1:30 pm (19:30 GMT).

Two other “Chapitos” brothers, Iván Archivaldo Guzmán Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzmán Salazar, have also been convicted of drug trafficking in the US, but remain at large.

His 68-year-old father, “El Chapo,” is serving a life sentence in a supermax federal prison in Colorado following his arrest and conviction in 2019.

Guzmán López was taken into custody last year as he arrived in Texas on a small private plane with Ismael “Mayo” Zambada, the co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel.

Zambada claimed that she was misled about the destination and that Guzmán López had kidnapped her in order to turn her over to authorities in the US against her will.

Following the arrest, clashes intensified between two factions of the Sinaloa Cartel, led by the “Los Chapitos” brothers and Zambada respectively. According to official figures, the internal fighting has caused about 1,200 deaths and about 1,400 people missing in Mexico.

Authorities in the US have accused the Sinaloa Cartel of smuggling fentanyl into the country, where thousands of people have died from overdoses on the synthetic drug in recent years, straining relations with Mexico.

The cartel is one of six Mexican drug-trafficking groups designated as global terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump.

Additional sanctions were announced by Washington in June against two fugitive “Los Chapitos” brothers for fentanyl trafficking, and the reward for their capture was increased to $10 million each.