Sinaloa cartel leader ‘El Mayo’ in plea talks in Brooklyn federal case, prosecutor says

(NEW YORK) -- The Mexican drug lord who founded the Sinaloa cartel with Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman is in plea talks with federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, to resolve his case before a trial that could yield the death penalty, an assistant United States attorney said during a hearing Wednesday.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, 76, has pleaded not guilty to a slew of federal drug and weapons charges. He had been wanted in the U.S. for more than two decades when he landed over the summer at a small airport in New Mexico where he was taken into custody.

A frail-looking Zambada appeared at the hearing in a beige smock over an orange T-shirt and reading glasses dangling from the collar. He held an earpiece to his right ear with an index finger to listen to the interpreter.

"The parties have been engaged in discussions to resolve the case pre-trial," federal prosecutor Francisco Navarro said.

The judge asked the parties to return to court on April 22 and, in the meantime, to keep working on a plea deal. No trial date has been set.

During the hearing, Judge Brian Cogan also allowed Zambada to keep his lawyer, Frank Perez, despite a conflict over Perez's representation of El Mayo's son, Vicente Zambada Niebla, who is cooperating with the government and who is likely to be called to testify against his father.

"Because Vicente has information that might be used against you, and indeed because Vicente may testify against you, Mr. Perez has conflicting loyalties," Cogan said. "You don't have to proceed with a lawyer like Mr. Perez, who is conflicted."

Zambada put on his glasses to read a prepared statement that said he wished to retain Perez as his lawyer despite the conflict.

"I understand that upon representing two people in the same case there will be problems," Zambada said in Spanish. "But I don't want a different attorney. I want Mr. Perez to represent me even if this presents a conflict."

The successors of El Mayo and El Chapo have been waging a bloody fight for control of the Sinaloa cartel after El Mayo accused El Chapo's son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, of betraying him and turning him over to the United States.

Zambada and Guzman Lopez were arrested in New Mexico in July, following an operation that a Homeland Security Investigations official told ABC News had been planned for months.

Zambada faces multiple federal indictments in jurisdictions across the U.S. and has been on the run from U.S. and Mexican law enforcement for years.

He was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court in September on 17 counts related to drug trafficking, firearms offenses and money laundering. The charges make El Mayo eligible for the death penalty. He was ordered detained pending trial.

Federal prosecutors allege that under El Mayo's leadership, the Sinaloa cartel expanded its drug business into fentanyl manufacturing and distributed thousands of kilograms of fentanyl into the U.S.

The co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, El Chapo, was extradited to the U.S. in 2017, convicted in 2019 and sentenced to life in prison.

His son, Guzman Lopez, has pleaded not guilty to drug trafficking charges.

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