One of Mexico’s most notorious drug traffickers is expected to spend the rest of his life behind bars after a federal court in Brooklyn is set to hand down a life sentence Monday morning to Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the longtime co-leader of the powerful Sinaloa Cartel.
Zambada, 76, stands alongside Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman as one of the highest-profile Mexican drug lords ever sentenced in an American courtroom. Guzman received his life sentence back in 2019.
As part of a plea agreement reached in August 2025, Zambada admitted guilt on charges of racketeering conspiracy and running a continuing criminal enterprise. The Justice Department agreed not to pursue the death penalty, though the charges themselves carried a mandatory life sentence. Over the course of his criminal career, Zambada admitted to overseeing the shipment of millions of kilograms of cocaine into the United States.
U.S. District Judge Brian Cogan is scheduled to formally impose the sentence at a 10:30 a.m. hearing — 2:30 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time — at Brooklyn’s federal courthouse.
Zambada was taken into custody in July 2024 when a plane carrying him and Joaquin Guzman Lopez — a son of El Chapo — touched down at a small airstrip in New Mexico. Guzman Lopez has since entered a guilty plea on drug trafficking charges of his own.
Zambada’s attorney, Frank Perez, noted in a July 6 court filing that his client fully understood he would be sentenced to life when he chose to accept responsibility. Perez also asked Judge Cogan to recommend to federal prison officials that Zambada be housed in a facility capable of providing appropriate medical care, given his age.
Federal prosecutors from the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney’s office pushed back, arguing that the prisons suggested by Perez may not be able to adequately manage the security risks Zambada presents — including the concern that he could potentially continue directing cartel operations even from inside a prison cell.
“Those security concerns will continue for the foreseeable future because individuals loyal to the defendant continue to control the Cartel,” prosecutors stated in a July 13 court filing.
El Chapo Guzman is currently serving his life sentence at a maximum-security federal prison in Colorado.
