Juan Carlos Félix Gastélum, alias “El Chavo Félix,” son-in-law of Sinaloa Cartel (CDS) co-founder Ismael Mario Zambada García, alias “El Mayo,” pleaded guilty on June 26, 2026, before Chief Judge Cynthia Bashant of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California, based in San Diego, to four counts related to drug trafficking conspiracy and money laundering.
Félix Gastélum, 43, admitted in his plea agreement that he led a drug trafficking organization associated with the CDS and was one of the main operators of the cartel’s clandestine methamphetamine labs in the states of Sinaloa and Durango. He also admitted to selling the drug to other cartel leaders in shipments ranging from “several hundred pounds to several thousand pounds,” and to working with accomplices to smuggle “thousands of kilograms of methamphetamine” and large quantities of cocaine into the U.S.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California published in August 2025, when Félix Gastélum was arrested in San Diego, the initial indictment included only two charges: international conspiracy to distribute controlled substances for the purpose of illegal importation and conspiracy to import controlled substances. However, at the time of his guilty plea, the charges increased to four, with the addition of one count of conspiracy to traffic drugs and another of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Under his plea agreement, Félix Gastélum faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum of life imprisonment for each of the three drug trafficking conspiracy charges, and a maximum sentence of 20 years for the money laundering conspiracy charge. Judge Bashant scheduled the sentencing hearing for March 2027.
