A person thought-about one of many chief aides to convicted drug boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman pleaded responsible Friday in Chicago federal court docket to distributing greater than 150 kilograms of cocaine and greater than 30 kilograms of heroin.
Felipe Cabrera Sarabia, 51, referred to as "The Engineer," faces a minimal of 10 years in jail and a potential life sentence.
Throughout a listening to earlier than U.S. District Choose Sharon Johnson Coleman, Sarabia mentioned via an interpreter that he had "at all times made a dwelling as a cattle rancher," the Chicago Solar-Instances reported.
Sarabia was extradited to face fees in June 2020. His sentencing is about for July 7.
He was initially charged together with Guzman and others in a sweeping 2009 indictment in Chicago. Guzman wound up being prosecuted in New York and is now serving a life jail sentence.
Sarabia's responsible plea comes simply days after Mexico's president mentioned that he would contemplate a request by Guzman to return from the USA to finish his sentence on humanitarian grounds. The message from El Chapo was described as an "SOS" by one among his attorneys.
The Sinaloa cartel founder has appealed to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for assist attributable to alleged "psychological torment" that Guzman says he's struggling in a U.S. jail.
"We will evaluation it (the plea)," Lopez Obrador advised reporters.
It was unclear if Mexico had the ability to grant the request, "however the door should at all times be left open with regards to human rights," he added.
El Chapo is serving his life sentence in a most safety jail in Colorado after being convicted in 2019 of fees together with drug trafficking, cash laundering and weapons-related offenses.
He's incarcerated on the "Supermax" jail in Florence, Colorado, which holds various high-profile inmates, together with Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui and Oklahoma Metropolis bombing confederate Terry Nichols. The power is so safe, so distant and so austere that it has been referred to as the "Alcatraz of the Rockies."
In response to one among his attorneys, Jose Refugio Rodriguez, Guzman is sad with the cruel jail circumstances together with isolation and an absence of daylight.
One in all El Chapo's sons, Ovidio Guzman, was arrested by Mexican safety forces this month in an operation that left 29 folks lifeless and sparked a dramatic shootout at an airport within the metropolis of Culiacan.
The U.S. Division of State had been providing a reward of as much as $5 million for info resulting in the arrest and/or conviction of Ovidio Guzmán-López.
AFP contributed to this report.