After Ismael “Mayo” Zambada García pleaded guilty to various drug trafficking charges, US prosecutors asked Judge Brian M. Cogan to impose a life sentence on the Sinaloa Cartel leader and founder, as well as to order the forfeiture of $15 billion in assets.
According to US authorities, these terms were part of the plea agreement signed by the Sinaloa kingpin. The US District Court for the Southern District of New York, where the case is being heard, is expected to consider these requests on July 20, the day the criminal leader’s sentence is to be announced.
Zambada, 76 and suffering from various health issues, recently submitted a letter to US authorities requesting to be sent to a medical prison rather than a maximum-security facility, in order to receive appropriate care for the remainder of his life.
According to the prosecution’s filing, Zambada García co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera in the late 1980s—an alliance that transformed what was then known as the Mexican Federation into the world’s most powerful criminal organization.
