Chicago, USA – Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, pleaded guilty to multiple drug trafficking charges in a Chicago courtroom on Friday, striking a deal with US prosecutors that could spare him a life sentence.
Nicknamed “El Ratón” (The Mouse), Guzman Lopez admitted to two counts of drug conspiracy and two counts of knowingly participating in a continuing criminal enterprise. The charges stem from his role in the leadership of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel, which he helped run alongside his brothers — collectively known as “Los Chapitos” — after their father’s capture in 2016.
According to the plea agreement, Guzman Lopez will cooperate “fully and truthfully” with US authorities, offering intelligence on cartel operations and protection networks. In return, federal prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lighter sentence. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled by District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman.
“Guzman Lopez’s guilty plea sends yet another crystal-clear message that this administration is going to shut down and hold accountable transnational criminal organizations and their highest-ranking members and associates,” said US Attorney Andrew Boutros.
The 34-year-old reportedly oversaw the production and smuggling of massive quantities of fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and precursor chemicals from Mexico into the United States. Former DEA operations chief Mike Vigil said Guzman Lopez could provide “valuable information” on the cartel’s inner workings and its elite protectors.
His capture and extradition were dramatic. In 2019, he was briefly detained in Culiacán, but Mexican authorities released him following a violent standoff between cartel gunmen and security forces — an incident that embarrassed the Lopez Obrador administration. He was recaptured in January 2023 and extradited to the United States.
The wider fallout from Los Chapitos’ leadership has been brutal. Infighting within the cartel has left more than 1,200 people dead and over 1,400 missing in Sinaloa state alone. One of Ovidio’s brothers, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, was arrested in 2023 under bizarre circumstances and remains in US custody awaiting trial. The two other brothers — Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar — remain at large and are considered fugitives.
Their father, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was convicted in 2019 on multiple trafficking charges and is serving a life sentence at the ADX Florence supermax prison in Colorado.
The Sinaloa Cartel, still considered one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations globally, has been a key target of US law enforcement. In 2023, the US government increased its bounty for each of the fugitive Chapitos to $10 million, declaring the cartel a global “terrorist” organization under expanded sanctions first announced during the Trump administration.
Written by Were Kelly
