
Correction appended, April 11
A high-ranking member of the largest drug cartel in the Americas has been co-operating with U.S. authorities since he pleaded guilty to drug trafficking last year, federal prosecutors in Chicago announced Thursday.
Jesus Vicente Zambada-Niebla, who last April pleaded guilty to taking part in a “vast narcotics trafficking conspiracy” involving multiple kilograms heroin and cocaine between 2005 and 2008, coordinated logistics of narcotics deliveries as a member of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, according to a recently unsealed plea agreement.
Zambada-Niebla is also believed to have worked closely with Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, the leader of the cartel who was captured in Mexico this past February, although the information Zambada-Niebla provided is not said to have aided in Guzman’s arrest.
Although no sentencing date has been set, Zambada-Niebla is in custody and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and a maximum fine of $4 million. If he is found to have given “full and truthful” co-operation with U.S. authorities, he’ll be guaranteed a sentence below life imprisonment.
Fernando X. Gaxiola, an attorney of Zambada-Niebla, declined to comment to the AP.
Correction: The original version of this story misstated where Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman was captured.
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Inside Elon Musk’s War on Washington
- Why Do More Young Adults Have Cancer?
- Colman Domingo Leads With Radical Love
- 11 New Books to Read in February
- How to Get Better at Doing Things Alone
- Cecily Strong on Goober the Clown
- Column: The Rise of America’s Broligarchy
- Introducing the 2025 Closers
Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com