‘El Mayo’ Zambada wants to die in Mexico; he’s not seeking to set foot in ADX Florence: Frank Pérez

The founder and former leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, Ismael El Mayo Zambada García, hopes that the benefits of pleading guilty to drug trafficking in the United States will allow him to avoid serving his sentence in the Florence Supermax prison in Colorado and die in his homeland.

Frank Pérez, Zambada García’s attorney, detailed what led El Mayo, one of the world’s most powerful drug traffickers, to accept two racketeering charges in August, even though he knew there was no way to avoid a life sentence.

“What we’re hoping for are the conditions, where they’re going to send him. We don’t want them to send him to ADX (Florence, Colorado). We want a prison. He’s already an elderly man, where they can give him the health care he needs, and family visits.”

The ADMAX or ADX prison in Florence, Colorado, is one of the most restrictive criminal detention centers in the United States. Located in a mountainous area, it houses high-profile criminals, including El Mayo Zambada’s close friend, Joaquín Guzmán Loera, known as El Chapo, who has denounced in several letters that he suffers inhumane treatment inside the prison.

Solitary confinement, days on end without being able to leave prison, and almost zero contact with his family are some of the Mexican’s complaints.

Frank Pérez, who has also represented other relatives of El Mayo in their criminal cases in the United States, such as his brother Jesús Reynaldo and his son Vicente, said that Ismael Zambada still hopes to be repatriated to Mexico, so he can serve his sentence on Mexican soil.