Emma Coronel Aispuro receives the jail sentence after she pleads guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering as well as conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the U.S.
- Dec 1, 2021
AceShowbiz - Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman's wife has been sentenced to three years in prison. Emma Coronel Aispuro received the jail sentence after she faced drug trafficking and money laundering charges.
The 32-year-old beauty expressed sincere regret for her role in the case and acknowledged full responsibility in a statement to the court on Tuesday, November 30. She then pleaded with the judge to take into account her nine-year-old twins, who are already living with one parent.
The wife of the drug kingpin was accused of helping her husband's Sinaloa cartel while he was in custody. Previously, prosecutors wanted to impose a four-year sentence on her after she pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering as well as conspiracy to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana for importation into the U.S.
However, Emma, who was taken into police custody in February, was given credit for time served, having been behind the bars for nine months. The judge also considered her role in support of her husband's illegal business to be "minimal." As she accepted responsibility quickly after her arrest, she received a relatively short sentence.
"The defendant is going to have to participate in raising her 9-year-old twins because their father will not be able to do so, given his long-term incarceration," judge Rudolph Conteras said. The judge then imposed a $300 special assessment fine for each of the three counts to which she pleaded guilty.
As part of her plea deal, Emma turned over $1.5 million in illicit proceeds from her husband's illegal operations. She also admitted to helping him move a whopping 450 kilograms of cocaine, 90 kilograms of heroin and nearly 90,000 kilograms of marijuana into the U.S.
Emma was arrested at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia in February, two years after her husband was sentenced to life in prison. "We're just trying to get the full scope of the government allegations at this time," lawyers Jeffrey Lichtman and Mariel Colon, who were representing the former beauty queen, said at the time.
As for El Chapo, he was convicted of 17 charges and sentenced to life plus 30 years in federal prison after a jury trial in 2019 in the U.S. His wife also regularly attended his trial, even when testimony implicated her in his prison breaks.
