Emma Modesta Coronel Aispuro is a former American teenage beauty queen. She is best known as the wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, the most wanted drug lord in Mexico until he was sentenced to life in prison. But did you know how long El Chapo’s wife’s sentence was?
Emma Coronel, El Chapo’s wife, was sentenced to three years in prison for assisting her husband in his criminal enterprise. Initially, a minimum sentence of ten years was planned. Rumors in the government assure her cooperation. Her life is now in danger because the cartel does not tolerate traitors or suspects.
The Pleading Beauty Queen
Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, was sentenced to three years in a US prison after pleading guilty to assisting the Sinaloa drug cartel. She pleaded with US District Judge Rudolph Contreras to show her mercy before sentencing in a federal court in Washington.
With all due respect, I address you today to express my true regret for any and all harm that I may have done, and I ask that you and all the citizens of this country forgive me. Perhaps for this reason you feel there is a need for you to be harder on me, but I pray that you not do that.
Emma Coronel Aispuro, El Chapo’s Wife
Coronel pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, conspiracy to launder money, and dealings with the Sinaloa drug cartel. Federal prosecutors asked on Tuesday for a four-year prison sentence for Coronel, adding that she would forfeit $1.5 million.
While the overall effect of the defendant’s conduct was significant, the defendant’s actual role was a minimal one. The defendant acted primarily in support of her husband, quickly accepted responsibility for her criminal conduct.
Anthony Nardozzi, Federal Prosecutor
Coronel, a former beauty queen from the United States who married Guzmán when she was a teenager, was arrested in February at Dulles International Airport outside of Washington. She and Guzman have twin daughters who are nine years old.
She admitted as part of her plea agreement with prosecutors that she served as a courier between Guzmán and other Sinaloa cartel members. At the same time, he was being held in Mexico’s Altiplano prison following his arrest in 2014.
Guzman used those communications to plan his 2015 prison escape through an underground tunnel built by the cartel leading to his cell shower. The drug lord was apprehended in January 2016 and extradited to the United States a year later.
He was convicted of drug trafficking, conspiracy, kidnapping, murder, and other charges in February 2019 and sentenced to life in prison. (Source: The Guardian)
The Drug Cartel Queen
Coronel’s attorney emphasized on Tuesday that she was swept into the world of drug trafficking as a minor and deserved mercy.
She met Joaquín Guzmán when she was a minor. She was 17 years old, and she married him on her 18th birthday.
Jeffrey Lichtman, Guzman’s Defense Attorney
Lichtman went on to say that Coronel is now in danger, citing anonymous law enforcement sources who told the media that she was cooperating with the government. Contreras stated that he considered her background and that she would be the sole caregiver for her children due to her husband’s life sentence when deciding on the verdict. (Source: The Guardian)
Image From: BBC