Ismael Mario Zambada García, the former drug lord and top leader of the Sinaloa Cartel known as El Mayo, willplead guilty to federal drug chargesbrought by the United States Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, according to an entry on the court docket. El Mayo is due in court next week for a conference that, according to the docket, is now a "change of plea" hearing. Federal prosecutors said earlier this month they would not seek the death penalty for Zambada, who helped build the Sinaloa Cartel from a regional group to a major smuggler of cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs into U.S., authorities have said. MORE: 'El Mayo' in plea talks in Brooklyn federal drug case, prosecutor says He was charged with 17 counts related to drug trafficking, firearms offenses and money laundering. It was not immediately clear to what charge or charges he would plead guilty. Zambada was arrested in Texas last summerafter arriving in a private planewith one of Joaquin Guzmán's sons, Joaquín Guzmán López. Joaquín Guzmán López remains in custody in the U.S. andpleaded not guilty to drug trafficking chargeslast year. Another of El Chapo's sons, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, pleaded guilty to two counts of drug conspiracy and two counts of knowingly engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise last month, according tothe Justice Department. As part of the plea, he is also set to forfeit $80 million. Ovidio Guzman Lopez admitted, through the plea, that he and his three brothers took over control of the Sinaloa Cartelafter the dramatic arrest of their father, El Chapo, in 2016. He was arrested in January 2023 and extradited to the U.S. later that year. MORE: Top Sinaloa cartel leaders, including son of El Chapo, taken into US custody: DOJ El Chapo's other two sons -- Ivan Archivaldo Guzman Salazar and Jesus Alfredo Guzman Salazar -- have been charged in the U.S. but are not in custody. There are $10 million awards from the U.S. government for each man's arrest and conviction. Violence has surged in Sinaloa since the arrest of Zambada last year. There were about four times as many murders in the first half of 2025 as there were in the first six months of 2024,Reuters reportedlast month. ABC News' Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.
