El Chapo's Wife Emma Coronel Aispuro to Be Released as Early as May 2023 and She'll Have to Look for Work After Prison

Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, is set to be released on September 13, 2023, the U.S. Bureau of Prisons said on Thursday.

Coronel Aispuro was sentenced to three years in prison on November 30 for helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar drug empire.

Coronel Aispuro's lawyer Jeffrey Lichtman told La Opinion that this was not a reduction in his client's sentence. He noted that El Chapo's wife could even get out of prison four months earlier or in May 2023.

Lichtman explained that Coronel Aispuro is allowed by law to serve at least 85 percent of her sentence and has the option to serve the remaining 10 percent of her sentence at home or a place that will help her rejoin society.

The lawyer added that El Chapo's wife would also be credited for the months she had already served. Coronel Aispuro has been incarcerated in a jail in Virginia since February last year when she was arrested at Dulles International Airport.

But Univision News reported that her exact location is not known since it is confidential government information.

At her sentencing hearing in a Washington court, Judge Rudolph Contreras has also ordered El Chapo's wife to forfeit $1.5 million tied to her criminal activities and serve four years of supervised release when she leaves prison.

Coronel Aispuro was also directed to find work after her release from prison and should work at least 30 hours per week.

Emma Coronel Aispuro Pleads Guilty in Engaging in Financial Dealings With Sinaloa Cartel

Emma Coronel Aispuro has pleaded guilty to conspiring to launder money and engage in financial dealings with the Sinaloa Cartel in June.

She also admitted to conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and marijuana for import into the U.S. for several years. She also admitted to helping her husband escape from a Mexican prison.

As part of her plea agreement, El Chapo's wife admitted acting as a courier between his husband and other members of the Sinaloa Cartel, while El Chapo was being held in Altiplano prison in Mexico following a 2014 arrest.

When her case was presented in court last year, Judge Robin Meriweather said if El Chapo's wife is found guilty, she could face a maximum sentence of life in prison with a $10 million fine.

U.S. prosecutors initially asked the court to sentence Coronel Aispuro to four years in prison in relation to the drug distribution and money laundering charges. But the prosecutors later agreed to a shorter sentence after she expressed remorse.

El Chapo's Wife and the Sinaloa Cartel

Emma Coronel Aispuro first met El Chapo after being crowned in a Sinaloa beauty pageant in 2006. She was only 17 years old at the time, and El Chapo was 49.

The two exchanged vows the following year on her 18th birthday. The California-born ex-beauty queen gave birth to their twins in 2011.

As the wife of El Chapo, the complaint filed against Emma Coronel Aispuro said she understood the scope of the Sinaloa cartel's drug trafficking, CNBC reported.

Before her sentencing, former DEA chief of international operations Mike Vigil told CNBC that Coronel Aispuro can provide a lot of information such as "the drug routes, the sources of supply for cocaine, corrupt public officials, (and other) members of the Sinaloa cartel."

Vigil added that El Chapo's wife also "knows where all the bodies are buried," and "she can do a lot of damage to the Sinaloa cartel."

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 for carrying 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 arrested and sentenced to more than 20 years in prison in 1993. He escaped from prison in 2001 and was apprehended again in 2014 in Sinaloa, Mexico.

The Sinaloa cartel boss again escaped from prison through a tunnel the following year. In January 2016, Mexican officials announced that El Chapo has been captured again. He was extradited to the U.S. the next year.

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: Emma Coronel Aispuro, Wife Of Mexican Drug Lord El Chapo Sentenced To Three Years | English News - From WION