Lichtman added that Coronel now finds herself in danger, noting that anonymous law enforcement sources told news media that she was cooperating with the government. She was 17 years old, and she married him on her 18th birthday," said Jeffrey Lichtman, a defense attorney who also represented Guzman in his U.S.
"She met Joaquin Guzman 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 Guzman 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 U.S.-born former beauty queen who married Guzman 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 askedthat a four-year prison term be imposed on Coronel, adding that she would be forfeiting $1.5 million as part of her sentence.
led more than 500 soldiers and members of Colombia’s special forces to Úsuga’s jungle hideout, which was protected by an eight rings of security.She added that she feared the judge might find it difficult to forgive her because she is Guzman's wife. at least 73 metric tons of cocaine between 20 through countries including Venezuela, Guatemala, Mexico, Panama, and Honduras.īut like many of his gunmen, he’s also cycled through the ranks of several guerrilla groups, most recently claiming to lead the Gaitanist Self Defense Forces of Colombia, after a mid-20th century Colombian leftist firebrand.Īuthorities said intelligence provided by the U.S. Later indictments in Brooklyn and Miami federal courts accused him of importing into the U.S. He was first indicted in 2009, in Manhattan federal court, on narcotics charges and for allegedly providing assistance to a far-right paramilitary group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s most-wanted fugitives list, for whose capture it had been offering a $5 million reward.