ionigeria.com Nigerian Newspaper
The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, Emma Coronel Aispuro, has pleaded guilty to charges related to helping her husband run his international drug trafficking ring.
The US-born beauty queen appeared in a Federal District Court in Washington on Thursday to enter her plea on international drug trafficking charges.
She is also accused of helping plot her husband’s 2015 escape from a prison in Mexico, as well as helping plan another jailbreak once he was recaptured in 2016.
The 31-year-old pleaded guilty to three counts – including conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and marijuana for importation into the United States. Her sentencing hearing was scheduled for September.
Ms. Coronel Aispuro had initially appeared to have no role in his criminal enterprise during her husband’s trial but was arrested in February this year at Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Coronel could face up to life in prison for the drug distribution charge alone. The other two counts against her carry maximum prison terms of 20 years and 10 years, respectively.
However, her deal with prosecutors will likely result in a reduced sentence.
She’ll remain in custody without bond until that date.
Coronel wore a green prison uniform and spoke through an interpreter throughout the entirety of the hearing.
Before entering her plea, prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi told Judge Contreras that if the case went to trial, “the government would prove each of the three counts in the information by a variety of means.
With her face covered by a white facemask, the former beauty queen didn’t reportedly show any obvious emotions throughout the hearing.
Coronel confirmed for the judge that she understood the charges and the repercussions of her guilty plea.
“Everything is clear,” she told the judge in Spanish before the message was relayed in English by her interpreter.
