Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada read a letter before Judge Brian Cogan at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York prior to being sentenced to life in prison this Monday, July 20.
The co-founder of the Sinaloa Cartel accepted full responsibility for his crimes, asked the victims for forgiveness, and warned that the violence in Mexico must end. Journalist Azucena Uresti released the full text of the document on social media hours after the sentence was announced.
As part of the ruling issued on July 20, Judge Cogan also ordered the forfeiture of $15 billion. Zambada, who appeared without handcuffs and in a visibly deteriorated physical state, did not contest the sentence.
His defense team requested that he be confined in a prison with medical facilities—a request the judge said he would forward to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, though he did not commit to granting it.
In the document, Zambada acknowledged growing up in an environment where violence and crime seemed normal, but he made it clear that this did not justify his actions. He maintained that there comes a time when every person must take responsibility for their decisions. “I did not do so, and many people paid the price,” he wrote.
