Nine of the 15 top leaders of criminal groups who have been deported or extradited from Mexico to the United States in the last year have already accepted plea deals or are in the process of doing so, in exchange for reduced sentences or less severe prison conditions.
For the Trump administration, this is a double victory, as it not only wins the cases without the time and money of a trial, but also gains potential cooperating witnesses from these high-level criminals to initiate or strengthen ongoing criminal investigations, and to pursue other actions such as sanctions through the OFAC lists or the cancellation of visas.
Court records reviewing the progress of these proceedings confirm the ongoing negotiations between prosecutors and defendants to resolve the cases through alternative means to jury trials. Hearings are already scheduled for the next six months in federal courts in New York, Washington, and Chicago that could be key to finalizing the plea agreements.
The two most advanced cases, where the defendants have already changed their initial pleas from not guilty to guilty, are those of Ovidio Guzmán López and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, both leaders of different factions of the Sinaloa Cartel.
On July 11, Ovidio, son of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded guilty in a hearing before Federal Judge Sharon Coleman in Chicago. During that session, Guzmán López committed to cooperating with various investigations in exchange for a potential reduction in his sentence.
The hearing in which the judge will impose Ovidio Guzmán’s sentence will be held on January 9, 2026. One of the factors in determining the sentence will be the prosecutors’ recommendation regarding the possible penalty.
