Tijuana, August 18.- Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, co-founder of the Sinaloa cartel, will change his plea to guilty on multiple charges during a court hearing scheduled for August 25 in New York, thus avoiding going to trial, according to court documents.
Judge Brian Cogan, who is presiding over the case against one of Mexico's most prominent drug traffickers, issued an order stating: "The preliminary hearing on August 25, 2025, is hereby converted into a change of plea hearing."
This decision comes after the U.S. Attorney's Office ruled out seeking the death penalty against Zambada in early August, paving the way for a plea deal that would allow him to avoid trial.
The 77-year-old drug trafficker pleaded not guilty on September 14 to the 17 charges he faces in the U.S. courts, including murder and arms and drug trafficking, particularly fentanyl, a narcotic 50 times more potent than cocaine and responsible for tens of thousands of overdose deaths each year in the United States.
