El Chapo Case: Wife of Chicago Drug Lord Tied to Sinaloa Cartel Boss Never Got Immunity Deal, Prosecutors Say

A wife of one of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera's top associates in Chicago never got a deal to spare her from criminal charges, federal prosecutors said.

Vivianna Lopez, the wife of Chicago drug lord Pedro Flores, is currently facing money-laundering charges in relation to her husband's drug dealing, Chicago Sun-Times reported.

Lopez's lawyer, MiAngel Cody, has argued that her client was granted immunity from prosecution, so she cannot be prosecuted.

Cody was referring to the 2018 testimony of Flores at El Chapo's trial in New York, where Flores told a prosecutor that her wife "was given immunity" when asked if her wife was ever charged with collecting drug debts. Flores' testimony helped send El Chapo to prison.

However, federal prosecutors said in a court filing Monday that this was not true. Assistant U.S. attorney Andrew Erskine noted that Lopez did not receive immunity or a non-prosecution agreement from the U.S.

Erskine added that even if Lopez received immunity in the past, it would not have authorized future criminal conduct such as the conduct charged in the indictment.

Wife of Chicago Drug Dealer Tied to El Chapo Insists There's an Immunity Deal

Vivianna Lopez's lawyer insisted that although no immunity documents exist, oral deals have been upheld in the past, and prosecutors did not make an attempt to correct Flores' testimony in 2018.

In a December 24 court filing, Lopez asked the court to order prosecutors to turn over any documents related to any immunity or "non-prosecution" agreements with her.

Her lawyers maintained that prosecutors either gave her immunity or "knowingly elicited her husband's perjured testimony" at the trial of the Sinaloa Cartel boss.

In June, Lopez, and Valerie Gaytan, the wife of Flores' twin brother Margarito Flores, were charged in a federal court in Chicago with helping to hide hundreds of thousands of drug money over a dozen years, which started in 2008.

Prosecutors alleged that the wives of the Flores brothers used the drug money for lavish trips, pay for schools for their children, Lopez's student loans, and even an exercise bike.

The wives allegedly spent the money after their husbands were arrested in 2008 and became key informants in the case against El Chapo. In exchange for their cooperation, the Flores brothers got lighter sentences of 14 years in prison.

The Flores brothers, known to the cartel as "the Twins," admitted smuggling at least 1,500 kilograms of Sinaloa Cartel 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 Mexican drug cartel.

Flores Twins Became Informants in the Case Against Sinaloa Cartel Boss' El Chapo

A federal judge told the Flores twins during their 2015 sentencing 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.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

WATCH: Wives of El Chapo Smugglers Reveal Secrets of the Mexican Drug Cartel - From NBC New York