Mexican drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada has been sentenced to life in prison in the United States after a plea deal he reached with prosecutors last year, in which he admitted that over several decades, as the leader of the violent Sinaloa cartel, he organized the smuggling of millions of kilograms of cocaine.
Zambada is one of the most famous Mexican drug traffickers to have been convicted in a US court since 2019, when his former associate and one of the leaders of the Sinaloa cartel, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was sentenced to life in prison.
Delivering the verdict at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn, US District Judge Brian Cogan said that while he had no choice but to impose a life sentence, he believed it was an appropriate sentence, Reuters reports.
"The almost unimaginable amount of drugs attributable to him, as well as the number of murders we can document, are sufficient to justify Congress' decision to impose a mandatory life sentence for this crime," the judge said.
Zambada, 76, agreed in August 2025 to plead guilty to charges including racketeering conspiracy and running a continuing criminal organization, after the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty. The crimes carried a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
Zambada took responsibility
Dressed in a beige prison T-shirt over an orange long-sleeved T-shirt, Zambada was ushered into the courtroom accompanied by two U.S. Marshals, after which he said "Buenas tardes," which means "good afternoon" in Spanish, to his attorney, Frank Perez.
In a brief address to the court, Zambada said he takes responsibility for the damage his actions have caused, Reuters reports.
"No one wins in a war like this. I say to the next generation: choose a different path," Zambada said.
Kogan said he would recommend that the Federal Bureau of Prisons place Zambada, who is in his 80s, in a facility where he will receive appropriate medical care. The judge noted that Zambada suffers from several progressive health problems, without specifying which ones, and that by pleading guilty instead of going to trial, he saved the state significant time and expense.
"I'm not saying that he should be placed in an open prison as a reward for that," Kogan said, referring to a minimum-security facility.
"If there is any doubt about what kind of medical care he needs, it should be decided in his favor."
Dramatic arrest
Zambada was arrested in July 2024 along with Joaquin Guzman Lopez, one of Guzman's sons, after their plane landed on a small airstrip in New Mexico.
Guzman Lopez, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to charges that include drug trafficking and the kidnapping of a person identified in court documents as “Person A,” committed in July 2024.
Joseph Nocella, the chief federal prosecutor in Brooklyn, told reporters after Zambada's sentencing that Guzman Lopez admitted to kidnapping Zambada in an attempt to curry favor with U.S. law enforcement.
"The United States has made it clear that it does not condone kidnappings and will not receive any leniency for it," Nocella said.
Guzman Lopez's lawyer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Guzman Lopez has not yet been sentenced.
His father is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado.
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