Ovidio Guzman Lopez, son of 'El Chapo,' pleads guilty to drug trafficking charges in Chicago

CHICAGO (WLS) -- It was a dramatic moment in a federal courtroom in Chicago Friday when Ovidio Guzman Lopez, the son of convicted Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, pleaded guilty to charges of drug trafficking, and running the Sinaloa Cartel in his father's absence.

DEA officials told the ABC7 I-Team that the Sinaloa Cartel was responsible for, at one time, funneling 80% of the illicit narcotics on Chicago's streets. That was in part due to El Chapo making Chicago a hub for his drug trafficking network, officials said.

As part of the plea agreement, Ovidio Guzman Lopez has agreed to fully cooperate with the U.S. government on all future criminal investigations into members of the cartel in hopes that prosecutors will allow him to serve a "less than life sentence" in prison.

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In court Friday, Ovidio Guzman Lopez lived up to his moniker, "El Raton." The Mouse was mild mannered, even meek, claiming a diagnosis of depression for which he takes medication for on a daily basis.

The mouse will now have to rat on the entire Sinaloa operation.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez was arrested by Mexican authorities back in 2023 and was extradited to the U.S. to face criminal charges in Chicago.

He pleaded guilty to four of the most serious charges he was facing: Two from an indictment filed in the Northern District of Illinois and the others from an indictment out of the Southern District of New York.

Prosecutors allege Ovidio Guzman Lopez and his brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, ran a faction of the Sinaloa cartel after their father El Chapo was arrested and extradited to the U.S. to face charges in 2016. El Chapo was later imprisoned in a supermax detention facility in Colorado.

El Chapo's sons became known as "Los Chapitos," or the little Chapos, and in court documents, federal authorities in 2023 described the operation as a massive effort to send vast quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and fentanyl from Mexico into the U.S., as well as a deluge of bloodshed to get his product into the American market.

In their indictment against the Chapitos, prosecutors described a truly sadistic streak, including the Chapitos torturing their rivals by feeding them, dead or alive, to tigers.

To facilitate the drug network, Ovidio Guzman Lopez admitted to bribing Mexican officials, and using private planes, cargo carriers, cross-border tunnels, even submarines to smuggle narcotics into the U.S.

In his plea agreement, Ovidio Guzman Lopez admitted to the murder of three people in Mexico and Arizona, as well as kidnapping,

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Michael Gannon is a former Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Chicago Division based in Indianapolis, and said Ovidio Guzman Lopez's guilty plea is just one domino in a long line to fall.

"Ovidio Guzman was one of the most influential people in the world for manufacturing fentanyl and poisoning our country," Gannon said. "So for him to be held accountable, it's amazing that he pled guilty to these charges."

"It lets people know that that are in high ranking positions there that we're coming. We're coming for you. The United States is coming for you," Gannon told the I-Team.

In a surprising twist last year, Ovidio Guzman Lopez's brother, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, delivered another Sinaloa kingpin, Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, to waiting federal agents in El Paso, Texas.

Joaquin and Zambada were both arrested and have pleaded not guilty to a list of serious criminal charges.

While many thought Joaquin delivered El Mayo for the U.S. government in an effort to assist him and his brother's criminal cases, Ovidio Guzman Lopez's attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, who also represents Joaquin, said that has nothing to do with today's plea agreement.

"It's not in the agreement for a reason because it wasn't part of the agreement," Lichtman said.

Lichtman would not comment on the level of cooperation his client will provide.

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In court, prosecutors made clear that if the government determines in the future that Ovidio Guzman Lopez did not fully honor his agreement of full cooperation, they can rescind their offer of less than life in prison.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Coleman made clear Ovidio Guzman Lopez has "very narrow avenues" for withdrawing this guilty plea after Friday's hearing.

The U.S. Attorney's office for the Northern District of Illinois praised the guilty plea, said in a news release, "With each passing day, you are seeing the sunset of the Sinaloa cartel."

"The Chapitos' latest violence reflects their fading future," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "Their leaders who remain free are now paranoid, distrusted and desperate."

Two of Ovidio Guzman Lopez's brothers remain on the run and the U.S. State Department recently offered a $10 million reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the pair.

When asked if the guilty plea and cooperation agreement is a good deal for his client, Lichtman told the I-Team, "I'll let you know at the sentencing."

Judge Coleman said a sentencing date will be scheduled in six months.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.