El Chapo’s Son Pleads Guilty in U.S. Court on Drug Trafficking Charges

Ovidio Guzmán López, son of notorious Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán Loera, pleaded guilty Friday, July 11, to four federal charges in two drug trafficking cases tied to the Sinaloa Cartel. The 35-year-old appeared before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman in Chicago, where he admitted to two counts of drug distribution and two counts of engaging in continuing criminal enterprise. He faces a potential life sentence.

According to Reuters, Guzmán López acknowledged a range of criminal activities included in two federal indictments—one filed in New York and the other in Chicago—such as murder, kidnapping, and bribery. His legal team did not respond to requests for comment. The next court hearing is scheduled for six months from now.

Prosecutors allege that Guzmán López and his brothers, known collectively as “Los Chapitos” or “Little Chapos,” revitalized the Sinaloa Cartel after their father’s arrest in 2016. The cartel allegedly earned hundreds of millions of dollars by trafficking fentanyl into the United States.

Guzmán López, also known as “El Ratón” (The Mouse) or “Ratón Nuevo” (New Mouse), was extradited from Mexico to the U.S. in September 2023 as part of the federal government’s broader campaign against fentanyl trafficking.