WASHINGTON - Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Mexican drug cartel kingpin Joaquin El Chapo Guzman, made her initial appearance in a federal court in Washington on Tuesday, after being charged with helping her husband run his drug empire.
Coronel, 31, a former beauty queen, was arrested at the Dulles International Airport on Monday.
Authorities said Coronel relayed messages to help Guzman conduct drug trafficking from 2012 to early 2014, and continued delivering messages while visiting him in a Mexican prison following his February 2014 arrest.
They also said Coronel conspired in Guzman s famous July 2015 escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico through a mile-long tunnel dug from his cell, and began plotting another escape following his January 2016 capture by Mexican authorities.
If convicted on all charges, Coronel faces up to life in prison and a potential fine of up to $10 million.
Guzman, 63, was convicted in February 2019 in a high-profile Brooklyn trial of masterminding a multibillion dollar drug enterprise for his drug operation, the Sinaloa cartel.
He was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, and locked up in the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Coronel is the highest-profile Mexican arrested by U.S. authorities on drug charges since October, when former Mexican Defense Minister Salvador Cienfuegos was detained.
The Justice Department unexpectedly dropped the Cienfuegos case the following month and let him return to Mexico. Mexico dropped its own case against him in January.
A Justice Department official said the case against Coronel is part of a long history of going after drug trafficking, and it is not reflective of a new push by the Biden administration.
Coronel, a dual U.S.-Mexico citizen born in California, was charged with conspiring with her husband to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for unlawful importation into the United States.
Prosecutors said Coronel grew up understanding the drug business and the reach of the Sinaloa cartel.
She met Guzman when she was a young beauty queen, and married him in 2007 at age 18. The couple has twin daughters.
Coronel was a regular presence at her husband s trial in Brooklyn.
In 2019 she launched a clothing brand in the United States, and she also appeared in a U.S. reality show about mafia families. REUTERS
Tuesday 2 March 2021
todayonline - 6 days ago
Wife of Mexican drug kingpin El Chapo appears in U.S. court on charges of helping him
Latest News
Pre-1987 HDB flats mostly up 56k newer flats next in line for home improvement programme
- straitstimes Minister K Shanmugam says nearly 90,000 police cameras installed across S’pore, but some netizens claim footage cannot be retrieved when needed as proof
- theonlinecitizen Secret society member, 26, who smuggled gun into S pore from M sia sentenced to jail caning
- mothership Fauci says U.S. must stick to two-shot strategy for Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines: paper
- todayonline Fauci says U.S. must stick to two-shot strategy for Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 vaccines - paper
- todayonline 1,700 flats surrendered to HDB over past 5 years, including 700 given up due to reasons like divorce
- straitstimes Josephine Teo trucks out the old and tired argument of the foreign bogeyman once more
- theonlinecitizen SDP’s Chee Soon Juan urges JRTC to build sidewalk near Blk 190 after resident was hit by a vehicle
- theonlinecitizen Transparency is key in addressing unwanted foreign influence, said NUS Assoc. Prof
- theonlinecitizen Boeing, Australian air force say pilotless, fighter-like jet completed first test flight
- todayonline Hong Kong democrat faints in court after protesters gather for landmark subversion hearing
- asiaone New York virus variant harbors another worrisome mu vaccinating elderly adds most years of life
- asiaone
CapitaLand and CDL s earnings may rebound in 2021, but will that lift their share prices?
- businesstimes
WillScot Mobile Mini Announces Launch of Secondary Offering and Concurrent Stock Repurchase
- asiaone Fall in Singapore s January arrivals attributed to fresh flare-up of Covid-19 pandemic, seasonal factors
- businesstimes U.S. says detentions in Hong Kong show national security law is being used to stifle dissent
- todayonline Historic Hyperloop Vehicle to be Unveiled to the Public at the Smithsonian FUTURES Exhibition this Fall
- asiaone U.S. considering additional steps to promote accountability for Houthi leaders in Yemen
- todayonline Johnson Johnson waiting on new plant approval to ship high volumes of vaccine: executive
- todayonline Acres: David the tame wild boar from viral video in S pore likely trained by feeder over time
- mothership Sources