Wife of 'El Chapo' faces international drug trafficking charges, federal authorities say
(CNN)The wife of drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera was arrested Monday in Virginia on charges related to her alleged involvement in international drug trafficking, the Justice Department announced.
Emma
Coronel Aispuro, 31, was apprehended at Dulles International Airport
and is facing charges of conspiracy to distribute one kilogram or more
of heroin, five kilograms or more of cocaine, 1,000 kilograms or more of
marijuana and 500 grams or more of methamphetamines for unlawful
importation into the country, according to a news release from the
Justice Department.
According to a criminal complaint,
"there is probable cause to believe that, from at least in or about
2014 and at least on or about January 19, 2017, Coronel did knowingly,
intentionally, and willfully conspired with Guzmán and others" to
distribute drugs.
The complaint says the FBI believes she took messages from Guzmán to his lieutenants, associates and four sons before and while El Chapo was in a Mexican prison.
Coronel,
a dual citizen of the US and Mexico, is expected to make her initial
appearance Tuesday in US District Court in Washington, DC, via video
conference.
Prosecutors said Coronel conspired with others to assist her husband
in his July 11, 2015, escape from a prison in Mexico. After Guzmán was
rearrested in Mexico in January 2016, his wife is alleged to have
engaged in planning yet another prison escape before he was extradited
to the United States in January 2017, officials said.
Guzmán
-- who prosecutors said headed a global narcotics empire greased for
decades with corruption and violence -- was convicted after a jury trial
in 2019, and sentenced to life plus 30 years in federal prison.
Jeffrey Lichtman and Mariel Colon told CNN they are representing Coronel.
"We're just trying to get the full scope of the government allegations at this time," said Colon.
Lichtman told CNN he had no comment.
After
Guzmán's third arrest in 2016, he was under tight watch. He was brought
to New York, where he remained through his trial and sentencing.
Security surrounding Guzmán's trial was so tight
that the Brooklyn Bridge was shut down each week to allow Guzmán to be
transferred in a motorcade -- complete with a helicopter escort -- from a
federal detention center to the courthouse in Brooklyn for his
months-long trial.
While
Guzmán was on trial, his communications were limited to members of his
legal team and his sister, with occasional visits from his twin
daughters. He was not allowed to meet with Coronel.
After
he was convicted by a jury, he signed away the rights to his name so
that Coronel, a former beauty queen with an interest in fashion, could
start an El Chapo-branded clothing line.
A regular presence at her husband's trial, she was often swarmed by media reporting on her fashion choices in court. And one day she and Guzmán wore matching velvet jackets.
He is expected to serve out his sentence in the nation's most secure federal prison in Florence, Colorado.
Guzmán
and Coronel have been married since 2007. The FBI alleges in the
complaint that her father, Ines, was a member of Guzmán's drug cartel.
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