Without naming the president, Castillo cited Trump’s comments suggesting cooperation with federal prosecutors should be outlawed. The judge also turned to Zambada-Niebla’s cooperation, an act he said is “now, all of a sudden in this country, become something that is looked down upon.” He added: “Frankly, I don’t understand it from my vantage point of 25 years on the bench.” He read from Zambada-Niebla’s testimony about having people killed and said, “you certainly facilitated this whole dimension of people dying, and I have to consider that.”īut Castillo also complained that, “many in Washington want to build a wall, when most of these drugs are coming in in a fashion where a wall will do nothing - nothing.” He began by noting that Zambada-Niebla was “one of the highest people” on the drug chain he had ever sentenced. Castillo said he would adjust his order to make sure Zambada gets credit for 11 months he spent behind bars in Mexico in 20.įashioning Zambada-Niebla’s sentence was “difficult for a lot of different reasons,” Castillo said. Because he already has spent a decade in custody, Zambada could leave prison in just a few years. Zambada-Niebla felt “content” with Castillo’s 15-year sentence, his defense lawyer said later. Lopez Nunez testified at El Chapo’s trial in Brooklyn earlier this year that El Chapo’s wife Emma Coronel Aispuro was involved in planning her husband’s Houdini-like escape from Altiplano prison in 2015.He was the warden of the Puente Grande prison, helped El Chapo escape in 2001 and became one of his top lieutenants, with marines, intelligence officers and local politicians on his own payroll.

Among them: Damaso Lopez Nunez, a confidant of “El Chapo” who oversaw much of his daily activities, has been extradited to the U.S.attorneys in New York, California and Texas, the Justice Department’s money-laundering section and the DEA in Mexico, leading to the indictment of dozens of Sinaloa cartel members and associates at the highest ranks of the organization. Zambada signed declarations resulting in the extradition of defendants from Mexico.Prosecutors’ exhibit naming those defendants is under court-ordered seal. His cooperation led “directly and indirectly” to criminal charges against dozens, if not more than 100 people.He was interviewed at first daily and then weekly for months - more than 100 times altogether.He was extradited to Chicago in February 2010, began cooperating with the Drug Enforcement Administration in late 2011 and pleaded guilty in April 2013.Vicente “El Vicentillo” Zambada-Niebla’s cooperation targeted the Sinaloa cartel and the rival Beltran Leyva organization.

El chapo escape prison 2024