El Chapo Case: Sister-in-Law of One of Chicago's Flores Twins Tied to Sinaloa Cartel to Plead Guilty to Money Laundering
A sister-in-law of one of Chicago's Flores twins associated with Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera is expected to plead guilty to money laundering this week.
According to ABC 7, federal prosecutors are now working double time in the money laundering case against both Pedro Flores and Margarito Flores' wives and other relatives.
The outlet noted that Bianca Finnigan, a sister-in-law of Pedro Flores, is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday to change her plea.
Finnigan is reportedly charged in the money laundering case and will plead guilty to her alleged role in hiding drug proceeds.
Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan, the wives of the Flores twins who were once the biggest narcotics traffickers in Chicago, are lead defendants in a federal money laundering case in relation to their husbands' drug dealing.
Both wives have pleaded not guilty to the alleged scheme that hid millions of cartel drug profits that started in 2008. Finnigan is reportedly the second defendant in the case of the Flores twins' wives to cut a deal with prosecutors and avoid a criminal trial.
Finnigan, a sister of Lopez, has previously pleaded not guilty.
Brother of Chicago's Flores Twins Tied With Sinaloa Cartel Boss' El Chapo Pleads Guilty to Money Laundering
Last week, Armando Flores, an older brother of the Flores twins, pleaded guilty to participating in a money-laundering conspiracy in Chicago federal court. He admitted that he hid millions of cash of their drug proceeds under his porch in Texas after they surrendered in 2008.
According to assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Erskine, Armando lived with the Flores twins in Mexico, and their families left Mexico for the U.S. in December 2008, Chicago Sun-Times reported.
The prosecutor noted that Armando also helped collect millions in drug deal proceeds. Erskine said Armando arranged to collect debts from the Flores twins' customers, and he has managed to pick up some $4.8 million in two transactions.
In one of these transactions, he picked up $1.9 million with Valerie Gaytan, wife of Margarito Flores, and the money was hidden in a car parked in a garage.
Erskine said Gaytan visited Armando's home in 2010 when a U-Haul truck carrying secondhand furniture with some $2.3 million hidden inside it arrived. He noted that the Flores twins' older brother again buried the money under his porch.
Over the ensuing years, Armando reportedly participated in a scheme to disperse the money to the Flores twins' wives without the knowledge of federal investigators.
Erskine said Armando regularly mailed cash to Gaytan and her family, which usually amounted to $9,000 per delivery. Armando was working as a Lyft driver before he was arrested 10 months ago. Since then, he has been in federal custody. His sentencing date has yet to be set.
Both Flores twins' wives are currently free on bond in secret locations after their arrests last year in separate areas of the country.
Prosecutors are seeking $504,858 forfeiture from the Flores twins' wives, who were accused of hiding and spending their husbands' drug money.
Chicago's Flores Twins Became Informants in Case Against Sinaloa Cartel Boss' El Chapo
The Flores brothers, known to the Sinaloa Cartel as "the Twins," surrendered to authorities in 2008 in a case linked to El Chapo.
They were sentenced in 2015 to 14 years in prison and were released in 2020 into witness protection. The Flores twin brothers were given relatively lenient sentences in exchange for cooperating in the case against El Chapo.
They became key informants in the case against El Chapo after they surrendered to authorities.
The Flores twins admitted smuggling at least 1,500 kilograms of cocaine into the U.S. every month between 2005 and 2008.
Their plea agreements further noted that they sent more than $930 million in "bulk cash" back to the Sinaloa Cartel.
During their 2015 sentencing, a federal judge told the twins that they would always have to worry about being hunted down by Sinaloa Cartel hitmen after their decisions to cooperate with prosecutors to apprehend El Chapo.
At the time, the judge said the Flores brothers and their families would always have to look over their shoulders. The judge added that they will always wonder anytime they start their cars if they would start or explode.
But the Flores twins still agreed to cooperate, and the prosecutors, in return, asked for an even lighter sentence for them.
The Sinaloa Cartel is considered to be one of the most powerful drug-trafficking syndicates in the world. The Mexican drug cartel has been known to carry out assassinations, murders, and torture to protect its turf.
The group was founded in the late 1980s and headed by El Chapo. Under El Chapo's leadership, the Sinaloa Cartel earned its reputation through violence and outfought several rival groups.
El Chapo was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in the ADX Florence "supermax" prison after being sentenced to life imprisonment in 2019.
READ MORE: El Chapo's Wife Emma Coronel Could Dismantle Sinaloa Cartel by Cutting Deal With U.S.: Report
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Mary Webber
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