Wives of Chicago Flores Twins Tied to El Chapo to Plead Guilty on Money Laundering

The wives of Chicago drug lords - the Flores twins - who cooperated against Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera are planning to enter a guilty plea to money laundering charges filed against them.

Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan, the wives of drug traffickers Pedro and Margarito Flores, are accused of laundering millions of their husbands' drug proceeds.

According to ABC 7 Chicago, the wives of the Flores twins were accused of collecting, hiding, and spending the ill-gotten gains of their husbands, who made a lot of money being the top lieutenants to El Chapo's drug empire.

The Flores twins have served their 14-year sentence for being the Sinaloa Cartel connect in Chicago and other cities. They are currently in witness protection. Lopez and Gaytan were indicted last year in Chicago on federal money-laundering charges.

Attorneys representing the wives of the Flores twins told U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly on Thursday that the two women are planning to plead guilty to the charges against them, and they will make it official at next month's hearings.

Chicago Flores Twins' Wives Request Denied

Last November, Judge Matthew Kennelly denied the request of Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan to dismiss the money laundering charges against them.

The wives of the Flores twins argued that the prosecutors had assured them that their husbands' cooperation in apprehending El Chapo meant that they would not face any charges for their own actions.

But in his ruling, Kennelly said there was no evidence of an immunity agreement in writing for the Flores twin's wives.

The judge noted that there was also no indication of any "meeting of the minds" about a formal agreement, and clearly, nothing was obtained in writing.

Kennelly added that the Flores twins' plea agreement did not mention any immunity, and it was clear that no other promises were made.

The judge said the jail calls made by prosecutors at the hearing were a "pretty strong indication" that "immunity had not been obtained."

Lopez's lawyers had maintained that prosecutors either gave her immunity or "knowingly elicited her husband's perjured testimony" at the trial of El Chapo. Lopez and Gaytan allegedly helped to hide millions of drug money over a dozen years, which started in 2008.

Prosecutors alleged that the wives of the Flores twins used the drug money for lavish trips and to pay for schools for their children. The wives allegedly spent the money after their husbands were arrested in 2008 and became key informants in the case against El Chapo.

In July last year, Pedro Flores testified that he was promised that no one in his family would be prosecuted for any drug-related activities. His testimony via a video link turned up in the money laundering case against his wife, Lopez, and his sister-in-law, Gaytan.

Pedro said former Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Shakeshaft, the lead prosecutor handling his case, had promised him during their first in-person meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, in 2008 that no one in his family would be charged.

When asked if Shakeshaft's promise was ever repeated, Pedro told Kennelly: "Yes, multiple times throughout my cooperation."

However, the Chicago drug kingpin admitted that the promise of immunity was never put in writing as he thought it was already being taken care of.

He also acknowledged that it was not mentioned in the plea agreement he and his twin brother signed in secret in 2012. Shakeshaft was supposed to testify about the negotiations.

However, he died last year after years of health issues. Federal agents testified that they had never heard Shakeshaft make the immunity promise.

Chicago prosecutors also maintained that no promise of immunity was ever extended to the Chicago Flores twins' wives. However, MiAngel Cody, Lopez's attorney, said charging the wives of the Flores twins sent a "chilling message" to other possible informants.

Chicago Flores Twins Testifying Against Sinaloa Cartel Boss El Chapo

The Flores brothers were sentenced in 2015 to 14 years in prison and were released in 2020 into witness protection. The twin brothers were given relatively lenient sentences in exchange for cooperating in the case against El Chapo.

They became key informants in the case 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.

The Flores brothers also admitted using Chicago as a distribution hub for shipping illegal narcotics to 30 wholesale customers in New York, CBS News reported in 2014.

Aside from New York, they also distributed to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Vancouver.

The brothers also said that Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez helped manage the shipments, adding that they even invested in the submarines with Vasquez-Hernandez and paid him $600,000 to set up a furniture company they used as a front.

Vasquez-Hernandez has denied having any part in El Chapo's Sinaloa Cartel, which is considered one of the world's most powerful drug trafficking syndicates.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Mary Webber

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