The alleged Mexican drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada is considering pleading guilty through an agreement with U.S. prosecutors to avoid facing the death penalty, according to his lawyer speaking to Reuters. Last September, Zambada pleaded not guilty in a federal court in New York to 17 charges, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and possession of firearms. He is currently being held awaiting trial.
Lawyer Frank Pérez noted to Reuters that "Mr. Zambada does not want to go to trial and is willing to take responsibility for a charge that does not involve the death penalty." For its part, a spokesman for the federal prosecutor's office in Brooklyn, which handles the charges presented, declined to comment.
Zambada, who is over 70 years old, was arrested by U.S. authorities in July at an airstrip in New Mexico, along with one of Guzmán's sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. This arrest marked a significant achievement in the fight against organized crime by U.S. law enforcement.
