Because of her involvement in her husband's drug empire, the wife of former Mexican drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán has been sentenced to 36 months in prison in the United States.
A federal judge in the capital Washington also ruled on Tuesday for a subsequent four years probation and a fine of 1,499,970 dollars (around 1.33 million euros), as the US Justice Department announced on Tuesday (local time).
Emma Coronel was charged on three counts: conspiracy to smuggle the drugs cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the US, conspiracy to launder money and violate US sanctions against Guzmán. The 32-year-old, who has both US and Mexican citizenship and was once a beauty queen, was arrested on February 22nd at Washington International Airport. The public prosecutor subsequently demanded four years' imprisonment. Judge Rudolph Contreras credited Coronel on Tuesday with her admission of guilt and the fact that she was very young when she married Guzmán. The nine months she has already been in custody count towards her prison sentence.
Coronel showed remorse in court.
"I want to express my real regret for any damage I have done," Coronel said in court.
"I am suffering from the pain I have caused my family."
She helped her husband escape from prison
According to the public prosecutor's office, the wife of "El Chapo" only played a "minimal role" in her husband's drug smuggling. "The defendant was not a leader, organizer, boss or any other manager," said prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi. "She was more of a cog in the very big gears of a criminal organization." According to the public prosecutor, she helped her husband escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. She is supposed to be involved in the activities of the Sinaloa cartel from 2011 to 2017 have been involved.
"El Chapo" had led the powerful and brutal Mexican cartel for about 25 years.
He is now in a maximum security prison in the US state of Colorado.
A court in New York had sentenced him to life imprisonment plus 30 years in July 2019 - Coronel was then among the spectators in the courtroom.
A jury found the now 64-year-old Guzmán guilty of all ten counts in one of the largest drug trials in American history - including involvement in a criminal organization, the manufacture and international distribution of cocaine and heroin, as well as money laundering and the use of firearms.