Ovidio Guzmán López Pleads Guilty in US

“Socalj” for Borderland Beat

“Do you admit to your participation in kidnapping and murder plans?” the judge asked. “Yes,” said Ovidio Guzmán López.

With those words, heard in a Chicago federal courtroom, one of the sons of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman pleaded guilty on Friday, July 11 to 4 criminal counts in two related drug trafficking cases targeting the notorious Sinaloa Cartel.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts of Drug Trafficking and two counts of participation in a Continuing Criminal Enterprise before U.S. District Judge Sharon Coleman in Chicago.

He faces a possible life sentence, however, according to the plea agreement filed on June 11, Ovidio is fully cooperating with prosecutors.

Ovidio Guzmán López admitted to four charges: two stemming from an indictment in Illinois and two from an indictment out of New York. The charges included international drug trafficking and engaging in a criminal enterprise.

Ovidio’s Plea Agreement

Guzmán López admitted to a range of charges in court that detailed when he became involved in his father’s operation, the role that he played and how he had a direct hand in ordering people to be killed.

He became closely involved in the cartel around 2012 at 21 years old and became a key logistical coordinator in moving illegal drugs from South and Central America to the U.S. via everything from submarines to tunnels at the U.S.-Mexico border.

Guzmán López also had a hand in making sure profits made it back to the cartel. Among ways they laundered the money, cartel operators relied on cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors in court also tied the sons of “El Chapo” to three killings in both the United States and Mexico.

“Do you admit to your participation in kidnapping and murder plans?” the judge asked. “Yes,” said Ovidio Guzmán López.

The first listed in the indictment/plea agreement was a member of the Damaso Lopez faction of the Sinaloa Cartel who was killed on December 30, 2018. Jesus Antonio Munoz Parra, also known as “Tony Montana.”

Another victim, the cousin of Damaso Lopez Serrano “El Mini Lic,” Mario Nungaray Bobadilla, also known as “Liebre,” was killed in Phoenix, Arizona on May 6, 2021.

Geovanni Hurtado Vicente, also known as “Amigo,” was killed October 21, 2021 in Mexico.

Responses to Plea Deal

Guzmán López’s defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman declined to share details of the plea agreement. He seemed to indicate that his client could shed light on corruption in Mexico and criticized comments from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that the U.S. was negotiating with terrorists.

“Far be it from me to defend the American government…they’re not exactly my friends in these cases,” the lawyer known best for representing El Chapo in 2018 told reporters outside the courtroom. “That being said, the idea that the American government would include the Mexican government in any kind of American legal decision negotiation is absurd.”

Lichtman referenced public corruption cases in Mexico and cartel leaders where he says Mexican authorities “did nothing.”

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum on Friday criticized the “lack of coherence” in American policy toward Mexican cartels, highlighting the disparity between the U.S. government declaring cartels foreign terrorist organizations, but also striking plea deals with their leaders.

U.S. prosecutors celebrated the deal they struck with Guzmán López.

“With each passing day, you are seeing the sunset of the Sinaloa cartel,” said Adam Gordon, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California and is involved in the case. “The Chapitos’ latest violence reflects their fading future. Their leaders who remain free are now paranoid, distrusted and desperate.”

“Today’s historic guilty plea sends yet another crystal-clear message that this Administration is going to shut down and hold accountable transnational criminal organizations and their highest-ranking members and associates,” said U.S. Attorney Boutros.

“Under my leadership, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago will continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of drug cartels, several of which, including the Sinaloa Cartel, have been designated as foreign terrorist organizations. Our enforcement work will also extend to drug trafficking organizations, narcotics traffickers, and other dangerous criminal enterprises that seek to poison the American public with illegal and harmful drugs. Our successes stem from our close partnership with federal prosecutors across the country as well as our tight collaboration with our many law enforcement partners.”

Joaquin’s Case

Lichtman said he didn’t know whether the case against Joaquin Guzman Lopez could be resolved with a plea deal, noting that it is “completely different.”

“Remember, Joaquin was arrested in America well after Ovidio was, so it takes time,” he said.

Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School and former assistant U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, said that Guzman Lopez, by pleading guilty, may have “saved other family members.”

“In this way, he has some control over who he’s cooperating against and what the world will know about that cooperation.”

U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman delayed sentencing for Ovidio, another hearing is expected in 6 months. His brother Joaquin has not been in the BOP system since October 2024 and his hearing has been delayed several times.

Sources DOJ, Reuters, Keegan Hamilton, Silent Witness