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FILE – In this photo on May 2, 2017, Damaso Lopez, leader of the drug cartel in Sinaloa, Mexico, is escorted by the police after his capture in a high-end building from Mexico. Lopez, top lieutenant of the king of drugs' ankle, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a Virginia court on Friday, November 30, 2018. (AP Photo / Jorge Barrera, File)
FALLS CHURCH, Virginia – One of the chief officers of the chief of drug addiction, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, was sentenced Friday to life imprisonment to a term of imprisonment at life. He pleaded guilty in September to a federal court in Alexandria for drug trafficking after being extradited from Mexico earlier this year.
The life sentence was expected after the two parties agreed to a life sentence as part of a plea bargain.
papers, Lopez admitted that he was a top official of the Sinaloa cartel and that he controlled a faction composed of hundreds of men. He admitted to using "sicarios", killers, to commit murder to serve the interests of the cartel and to transport tons of cocaine and other drugs into the Americas.
The conviction of Lopez occurs while Guzman is the subject of his own lawsuit in New York. It is not known whether Lopez, Guzman's right-hand man, would be called to testify at Guzman's trial. The publicly available court documents contained in the plea agreement do not include the duty of cooperation, as they would usually do. However, although Lopez was sentenced to life imprisonment, it is relatively common at the Alexandria federal courthouse that prosecutors file a post-sentencing application seeking a reduction of the sentence for defendants who cooperate closely in the prosecution. other business.
In court documents, prosecutors said the deal had generated billions of dollars in illicit profits.
"In summary, the accused played a leading role in the Sinaloa Cartel, the largest violent drug trafficking organization in the world," the prosecutor wrote. "It would be hard to imagine a more serious drug offense."
Mexican authorities arrested Lopez – known as "El Licenciado", a title for college graduates – in an apartment in Mexico City last year. The authorities claim that his arrest resulted in the collapse of his faction within the cartel.
Defense lawyers did not respond to calls or e-mails seeking comment.
Lopez was also sentenced to a loss of $ 25 million.
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