A reputed lieutenant of captured Mexican drug lord Joaquin “Chapo” Guzman said today he intends to plead guilty to a drug charge as part of a sweeping indictment against Guzman’s Sinaloa cartel filed in Chicago’s federal court five years ago.
Alfredo Vasquez-Hernandez, also known as “Alfredo Compadre,” was accused by federal prosecutors of acting as a logistical coordinator in the importation of multi-ton quantities of cocaine to Mexico from Central and South American for Guzman’s vast operation. He also allegedly oversaw deliveries of cocaine into the U.S. and shipped massive amounts of cash profits back to Guzman.
Vazquez-Hernandez’s attorney, Paul Brayman, told U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo today that his client intends to plead guilty next week to one count of possession of cocaine with intent to distribute greater than five kilograms. The other counts against him would be dropped, but there is no plea agreement with prosecutors on what the recommended prison sentence would be, Brayman said.
Guzman’s name was not mentioned during the brief hearing. After court, Brayman said that Guzman’s high-profile capture last weekend in Mexico after 13 years on the run had nothing to do with Vazquez-Hernandez’s intent to change his plea.
Vazquez-Hernandez, 58, appeared in court in an orange jail jumpsuit and listened to the proceedings through a Spanish interpreter. A co-defendant, Tomas Arevalo-Renteria, also appeared, and his attorney told Castillo they were also in talks with prosecutors about resolving the case against him before trial.
According to the indictment, Arevalo-Renteria acted as a narcotics broker and customer for two Sinaloa factions and coordinated deliveries of cocaine and heroin into the U.S.
Guzman, who was arrested Saturday in Mexico, has been wanted in Chicago since at least 2009 when he was indicted along with 10 other Sinaloa Cartel leaders in what was considered the most significant drug case of its time in Chicago history.
The federal grand jury indictment in the Northern District of Illinois described a vast cocaine and heroin distribution scheme in which a coalition of cartels known as “the Federation” shipped large amounts of drugs to Chicago, then repackaged and sold throughout the eastern United States and Canada.
When the coalition began to feud in Mexico in 2008, it sparked “a violent war in Mexico over various issues, including control of lucrative narcotics trafficking routes into the United States, and the loyalty of wholesale narcotics customers,” according to the indictment. Two brothers who handled the cartels’ distribution operations in Chicago began cooperating with federal investigators.
