2023-09-12 17:51:50
LOS ANGELES, California – Emma Coronel, wife of Mexican drug trafficker Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, could be released as soon as this Wednesday after serving part of her 3-year sentence in a United States federal prison for drug trafficking.
According to the website of the US Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Emma Coronel Aispuro, 34, has a release date from prison of September 13, 2023.
The woman is currently in a federal halfway house south of Los Angeles, California, for people who are about to be released, the BOP website indicates.
BOP spokesperson Randilee Giamusso confirmed to NBC News on Monday that this is the “projected” date for Coronel’s release.
“El Chapo” Guzmán, one of the most powerful drug traffickers in the world, led the Sinaloa cartel, responsible for trafficking cocaine and other drugs to the United States for more than 25 years.
In Mexico, Guzmán became a legend after escaping from prison twice. In 2017, however, he was extradited to the US and is now serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado.
THE CASE AGAINST THE WIFE OF “EL CHAPO”
On November 30, 2021, Coronel was sentenced to 3 years in prison in a US federal court on charges related to drug trafficking.
As part of the plea agreement, the wife of the former head of the Sinaloa cartel could be released from prison when she serves 85% of her sentence; In addition, the months she has spent in detention since February of this year were taken into account. Jeffrey Lichtman, Coronel’s attorney, had said that his client – with good behavior – could be released from prison in 18 months.
They met in 2007 at a party in Durango.
As part of his sentence, Coronel had to pay $1.5 million.
“I want to show my regret for any harm I have caused. I ask that all the people of this country forgive me,” Coronel said during the sentencing hearing in a District of Columbia court.
“I know that it may be difficult to ignore the fact that I am Joaquín Guzmán’s wife, perhaps that is why you feel the obligation to be harsher with me, but I beg you not to do it. Today the suffering that I have caused my family hurts me a lot,” said Coronel, speaking directly to Judge Rudolph Contreras, minutes before hearing his sentence.
In June 2021, Coronel pleaded guilty to federal charges after being arrested in February of that year at Virginia International Airport and later accused of helping her husband run a multimillion-dollar drug trafficking empire.
The Mexican, who also has US citizenship, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic cocaine, methamphetamines, heroin and marijuana; money laundering and participation in property transactions belonging to a drug trafficker.
THE ARREST OF EMMA CORONEL IN VIRGINIA
Coronel was arrested in February 2021 at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Prosecutors said Coronel “worked closely with the command and control structure” of the Sinaloa cartel and conspired to distribute large quantities of drugs, knowing they would be trafficked to the United States.
Her arrest came as a surprise in part because authorities had done nothing to arrest her in the past two years, even after she became implicated in crimes committed by her husband.
Jeffrey Lichtman, Coronel’s attorney, said outside court that he believes his client — with good behavior — could be released from prison in 18 months. Details in the video.
At “El Chapo’s” trial in 2019, prosecutors said she helped orchestrate the kingpin’s two prison escapes in Mexico. The drug trafficker’s wife was seen at the hearings of that trial and even gave interviews to the press.
Coronel served part of her sentence in Virginia and was later transferred to a federal prison in Texas.
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