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Mexican drug cartel operative pleads guilty in Chicago

Posted June 27, 2019 7:00 am

The Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) - A high-ranking figure in Mexico's Sinaloa drug cartel who answered to now-imprisoned drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has entered a guilty plea at a Chicago federal court.

Guadalupe Fernandez Valencia pleaded guilty during a Wednesday hearing to narcotics trafficking and money laundering conspiracy for coordinating the distribution of narcotics across the United States.

Valencia, who is in her late 50s, faces a maximum sentence of life. But prosecutors say in a plea agreement that they'll recommend a sentence of 10 to 15 years in exchange for her cooperation.

Valencia was arrested in 2016 in Culiacan in the state of Sinaloa and was extradited to Chicago a year later. Guzman was convicted in New York earlier this year on trafficking-related charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.

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