Emma Coronel Aispuro: The wife of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán, a notorious Mexican drug lord, has been sentenced to three years in prison to assist his Sinaloa cartel. In June, Emma Coronel Aispuro, 32, pleaded guilty to charges that included conspiracy and unlawful narcotics distribution.
She also claimed to assist Guzmán in eluding capture in Mexico. She faced the possibility of life in jail, but US prosecutors sought a reduced term after expressing contrition.
Emma Coronel Aispuro is currently receiving a life term in Colorado
According to court filings, former beauty queen Coronel Aispuro collaborated with Guzmán and other Sinaloa cartel members to smuggle cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and marijuana into the United States and launder the revenues.
Coronel Aispuro is also suspected of playing a “key role” in Guzmán’s 2015 escape from a maximum-security prison by purchasing a property near the scene.
Guzmán was able to flee the cartel-owned property by digging underground tunnels replete with air ducts, lighting, and a motorcycle.
While he was inside, she also gave him a GPS-enabled watch and sent messages to operators.
For months, his whereabouts after the escape were unclear until he reappeared for an interview with actor Sean Penn.
Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced her to lose roughly $1.5 million (£1.13 million) and serve four years of supervised release when released from prison on Tuesday in Washington.
By speaking Spanish interpreter, Coronel Aispuro expressed “genuine remorse for any suffering that I may have caused.”
While her actioe “immediately accepted responsibility for her unlawful activity,” according to federal prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi, who had requested a four-year sentence earlier this month.
Coronel Aispuro met Guzmán when she was 17 and married him. She was born in the United States to Inés Coronel Barreras, a Sinaloa cartel member.
In 2017, her father was sentenced to jail in Mexico for firearms offenses. Until he was killed in a gun battle with the Mexican Army in 2010, an uncle, Ignacio Coronel Villarreal, was considered one of Mexico’s most wanted persons.
Following media claims that Coronel Aispuro collaborated with US investigators, her attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, warned Coronel Aispuro’s life could be jeopardized if she ever returned to Mexico.
I’m not sure she’ll ever be able to return home | Emma Coronel Aispuro
Judge Contreras wished her success in the future and said he hopes she raises her two girls “in a different environment than you’ve experienced today” in his sentencing remarks.
During her husband’s trial in New York, Emma Coronel Aispuro dazzled in suede jackets, expensive skirts, and a diamond-encrusted watch. The manner she flaunted her wealth – money earned through drug trafficking – astonished and outraged the public.
She has, however, spent the past nine months in solitary confinement and clothed in prison attire. She has expressed regret for her acts and stated that she is ashamed of her husband’s drug gang role.
The judge was lenient with her in court, giving her a three-year sentence, which was less than legal analysts had predicted. Coronel had broken the law, but she had repented, and the judge had pardoned her. People can change, and they are sometimes granted another chance.
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