Mexican drug cartel operative pleads guilty in Chicago

CHICAGO – A high-ranking figure in Mexico’s Sinaloa drug cartel who answered to now-imprisoned drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has entered a guilty plea at a Chicago federal court.

Guadalupe Fernandez Valencia pleaded guilty during a Wednesday hearing to narcotics trafficking and money laundering conspiracy for co-ordinating the distribution of narcotics across the United States.

Valencia, who is in her late 50s, faces a maximum sentence of life. But prosecutors say in a plea agreement that they’ll recommend a sentence of 10 to 15 years in exchange for her co-operation.

Valencia was arrested in 2016 in Culiacan in the state of Sinaloa and was extradited to Chicago a year later. Guzman was convicted in New York earlier this year on trafficking-related charges. He is scheduled to be sentenced in July.