Washington.- Mexican drug trafficker Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada has accepted the life sentence he faces in the United States, according to a document filed this Monday by his defense before a federal court in New York, in which he requests not to be sent to a maximum-security prison and that his health condition be attended to while serving his sentence.
Zambada’s lawyers delivered a letter to Judge Brian M. Cogan, of the Federal Court for the Eastern District of New York, in which they state that the defendant pleaded guilty to the charges against him fully aware that the legal consequence would be a life sentence and that he is not requesting a sentence lower than that provided by law.
The defense argued that, since his arrival in the United States nearly two years ago, Zambada expressed his intention to plead guilty, avoided litigating the case, and did not file pre-trial motions, which, according to the document, saved the judicial system resources and time.
The document also underscores that the drug trafficker did not provide “substantial assistance” to U.S. authorities, nor does he seek to do so in the future to obtain a sentence reduction.
Instead, he requests that the judge take into account his conduct during the proceedings when issuing a recommendation regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility where he will serve his sentence.
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Awaiting sentencing
Zambada, 76, considered for decades one of the main leaders of the Sinaloa Cartel, pleaded guilty in August 2025 to various crimes related to drug trafficking and organized crime.
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Zambada’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for next July 20 before Judge Brian M. Cogan, who must determine the final sentence and issue recommendations regarding the Federal Bureau of Prisons facility where he will serve his time.
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Zambada arrived in the United States on July 25, 2024, along with Joaquín Guzmán López, son of Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán, who flew him on a private aircraft to an airport near El Paso (Texas), on the border with New Mexico.
According to the defense’s own account of Zambada and what was admitted by Guzmán López before the U.S. justice system, the latter deceived him and forcibly transported him to hand him over to the authorities, who took him into custody upon arrival.
U.S. authorities took custody of the then-leader of the Sinaloa Cartel, whose capture ended decades of clandestine activity at the head of one of the most powerful drug trafficking organizations in the world.
