On Friday, Judge Brian M. Cogan recommended that Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada—former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel—be housed in a federal prison medical facility, thereby avoiding a maximum-security prison. The judicial decision addresses a request made by the 76-year-old kingpin as part of his agreement with the U.S. justice system to accept the life sentence imposed on July 6. “El Mayo” was sentenced in the United States on Monday for drug trafficking. The judge also ordered the forfeiture of $15 billion linked to his criminal career—a sum his lawyer has already stated “El Mayo” will not pay.
“El Mayo’s” defense attorney, Frank A. Pérez, sent the letter to the judge stating that, “as a consequence of the serious crimes” the kingpin had committed, he would accept a life sentence. However, the lawyer noted at the beginning of the document that the criminal leader is “dealing with a complex set of age-related health issues,” and therefore requested that the prison where he is sent be “adequately equipped to address the defendant’s need for medical treatment.”
Pérez asserted that the request was not for “special treatment,” but rather because he genuinely “requires a secure medical or administrative environment.” “He acknowledges and accepts that the sentence imposed by this court will preclude any possibility of release from incarceration,” the defense attorney added.
“El Mayo” was handed over to U.S. authorities in July 2024 by Joaquín Guzmán López—son of his longtime associate Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—in a move that also entailed his own surrender to Washington. That abduction—as U.S. authorities described it—came as a surprise to “El Mayo.” On Tuesday, the lawyer stated that the former criminal leader had “placed great trust” in “El Chapo’s” sons. “That is why he met with them. He didn’t see it [his surrender] coming. The kidnapping took a heavy toll on him and broke him,” Pérez noted in an interview with Milenio.
