By Reuters via
NBC News
Jorge Iván Gastelum Ávila, hitman and key member of the Sinaloa Cartel led by Joaquín 'El Chapo' Guzmán, will face charges for international drug and arms trafficking after being extradited to the United States, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said Tuesday. acronym in English).
Gastelum Ávila, 42, is described as an assassin and "plaza boss"
for the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico from 2009 to 2016. According to the DOJ, he supervised some 200 gunmen and conspired to distribute cocaine in the United States.
[Emma Coronel will be released in September 2023 after reducing her sentence to 31 months in jail]
In 2016, the Mexican authorities captured "El Chapo" and Gastelum, known as "El Cholo Iván", who remained detained in Mexico until his extradition on April 1, the DOJ said in a statement.
In this February 22, 2014 file photo, Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman, head of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico, is escorted to a helicopter in Mexico City following his capture.
Eduardo Verdugo / AP
Gastelum appeared this Monday before the District Court of the District of Columbia to answer for the crimes of drug and arms trafficking, according to the authorities.
He faces the maximum sentence of life in prison for the crime of drug trafficking conspiracy and a sentence of 30 years for the weapons charge.
In 2019, Guzmán, 65, was convicted in New York of trafficking billions of dollars in drugs to the United States and conspiring to kill his enemies.
'El Chapo' is serving his life sentence in prison at a maximum security facility in Florence, Colorado, known as the “most secure” prison in the United States and perhaps the entire world.