The Federal Bureau of Prisons reported that Emma Coronel – wife of drug trafficker Joaquín El Chapo Guzmán – will be released on Wednesday from the social reintegration center in Long Beach (California) where she is being held.
Coronel's release comes after serving time on drug trafficking and money laundering charges linked to the Sinaloa Cartel (of which her husband is a founder and leader).
Reduction of his sentence
In February 2021, Coronel was arrested in Virginia due to her alleged collaboration in drug trafficking. In June of that same year, she pleaded guilty to all three charges against her: "International drug trafficking and money laundering and a criminal violation of the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (the Kingpin Act )."
Colonel Aispuro conspired with Guzman Loera and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel to traffic five kilograms or more of cocaine, one kilogram or more of heroin, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 1,000 kilograms or more of marijuana, knowing that these narcotics would be transported and distributed in the United States. She also conspired to launder the proceeds of that narcotics trade and participated in transactions and dealings with the property of her husband, Guzmán Loera, whom the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control had designated as a "Major Foreign Drug Trafficker."
After this, she was sentenced to three years in prison. However, due to her guilty plea and her agreement to pay about $1.5 million of the proceeds of this criminal activity to the U.S. government, her sentence was reduced.
21-MJ-240 Signed e. Colonel Aispurocomplaint Affidavit 01 by Veronica Silveri on Scribd
According to court documents, from 2011 to early 2017, the 34-year-old collaborated in the cartel's illegal activities — including one of El Chapo's escapes.— However, her sentence was less than that of her husband (who is serving a life sentence) because she had "minimal" participation in the activities of the criminal group:
Coronel will be released on supervised release, serving four years of surveillance.
