76-year-old “El Mayo” is a former accomplice of the organization’s founder Joaquín Guzmán (also known as “El Chapo”), who is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado.
“El Mayo” was arrested at a US airport in July 2024, and in August 2025 he pleaded guilty to several charges related to his leadership of a criminal organization.
He claims that a cartel ally deceived him by convincing him to board a plane that brought him into the hands of US authorities.
In exchange for his guilty plea, the US authorities agreed not to seek the death penalty.
A statement released by the Department of Justice says that US District Judge Brian Cogan in the Brooklyn federal court sentenced him to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for his role as one of the main leaders of a “continuing criminal enterprise” and for racketeering-related offenses.
“Ismael Zambada Garcia poisoned American communities for nearly four decades to earn billions of dollars in profit and ordered the killing of anyone who stood in his way. Today, this chapter is closed forever,” said Joseph Nocella, US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, quoted in the statement.
Known for his efforts to stay out of the spotlight and avoid being photographed, I. Zambada rose through the cartel hierarchy for decades, avoiding both arrest and numerous assassination attempts.
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