Justice Department Puts in Request for How Many Years El Chapo’s Wife Should Serve in Prison

The Justice Department put in the request after Emma Coronel Aispuro, who is El Chapo's wife, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in June.

Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Sentenced In New York
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Image via Getty/Drew Angerer

Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Sentenced In New York

El Chapo’s wife, Emma Coronel Aispuro, might be facing a 4-year prison sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering charges.

CBS News reports that the Department of Justice asked for this sentencing, with prosecutors also requesting she has five years of supervised release and pays a fine of $1.5 million. Aispuro previously pleaded guilty to the three charges back in June. She was arrested for international drug trafficking charges in February at Virginia’s Dulles International Airport.

At the time of her guilty plea, her attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman said that the mother hoped to be with her daughters again. “This is an arm’s length plea agreement,” he said. “She’s happy to take responsibility … to get on with her life.”

The 32-year-old was allegedly the intermediary between El Chapo and his colleagues. Prosecutors also say she previously helped the 64-year-old drug lord escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. She married El Chapo in 2007, and the couple shares twin girls.

El Chapo was in charge of the Sinaloa cartel, an infamous drug trafficking faction in Mexico. Over a 25 year timespan, the cartel was responsible for importing over 495 tons of cocaine, 99 tons of heroin, 49 tons of methamphetamine, and 99 tons of marijuana into the U.S. He’s also culpable for a number of murders, per court docs.

He’s escaped Mexican prison twice before: once in a laundry cart and another time by using a tunnel. He’s been serving a lifelong prison sentence in a maximum-security facility in Colorado since 2019.

Aispuro is set to be sentenced on Nov. 30.

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