Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, alleged Mexican drug lord, set to plead guilty

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK, Aug 18 (Reuters) - Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the accused co-founder of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel, is expected to plead guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges, court records showed on Monday.

Zambada, who is in his 70s, is scheduled to appear in federal court in Brooklyn on August 25 for a change of plea hearing before U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan. He had previously pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from his decades allegedly leading the Sinaloa cartel alongside imprisoned kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman.

The notice that Zambada was expected to change his plea came after the Justice Department last week said it would not seek the death penalty for Zambada or Rafael Caro Quintero, another septuagenarian alleged Mexican drug lord facing U.S. charges.

Guzman is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison in Colorado.

Zambada's lawyer Frank Perez did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Zambada was arrested in July 2024 alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Guzman's sons, after the plane in which they were traveling landed at a small airstrip in New Mexico.

Perez has said Guzman Lopez kidnapped Zambada, which the Guzman family lawyer has denied.

Guzman Lopez has pleaded not guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges. U.S. prosecutors have said they would not seek the death penalty for him if convicted.

Mexico last week sent more than two dozen suspected cartel members to the U.S., amid rising pressure from President Donald Trump on Mexico to dismantle the country's powerful drug organizations. Mexico has said it received assurances from the Justice Department that it would not seek the death penalty for them.