JESUS ZAMBADA cooperation against EL CHAPO makes him eligible for release UPDATE (5 YEARS)

[KENNY DA COOKER]

Zambada, a high-ranking member of the Sinaloa cartel in Mexico, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking Photo: Eduardo Verdugo, Associated Press

2of28Vicente Zambada Niebla, aka "El Vicentillo", one of the leaders of the Sinaloa drug cartel, led by fugitive Joaquin Loera, aka "El Chapo", is taken under custody to be presented to the press at the attorney general's office in Mexico City March 19, 2009. (Luis Acosta/Getty Images/TNS) **FOR USE WITH THIS STORY ONLY**Photo: Luis Acosta, TNS

3of28Shocking details from the trial of Joaquín 'El Chapo' GuzmánPhoto: Getty Images

CHICAGO (AP) — Prosecutors in Chicago are asking a federal judge for leniency at sentencing next week for a former lieutenant to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, describing his decade of cooperation with U.S. authorities as "extraordinary."

Their filing late Monday recommends a 17-years prison term for Vicente Zambada, a star government witness at Guzman's New York trial last year. With time served, Zambada could go free in under seven years.

The son of another Sinaloa kingpin, Ismael Zambada, Vicente Zambada once oversaw the smuggling of cartel drugs.

The profits were apparently enormous. Mr. Zambada, who has an accounting degree, testified that a $9 million investment in a 15-ton shipment of cocaine could earn its backers — after transportation costs — $39 million if sold in Los Angeles. If the same shipment were sold in Chicago, where prices were higher, he explained, the profits would be $48 million. In New York, he said, an investor could see a return of $78 million.

Mr. Zambada recalled that he first met Mr. Guzmán in 2001, only hours after the kingpin escaped from the Puente Grande prison. That day, Mr. Zambada told the jury, he helped his brother — known as Mayo, a diminutive of Ismael — arrange a helicopter to swoop down and ferry Mr. Guzmán to safety.

Leniency sought for lieutenant who turned on 'El Chapo'

Witness at El Chapo Trial Gives Master Class on Sinaloa Cartel

 

[George's Dilemma]

I wonder where they'll relocate him after being released. They probably won't identify what prison hes at either.

 

[UncleTomFord15]

Invest 9 million to get 78 million!!

 

[tuckgod]

He’ll be dead in 2.

 

[loyola llothta]

Gabos

 

[Kilgore Trout]

@itsyoung!!

 

[KENNY DA COOKER]

Key witness against El Chapo is sentenced; may get out in 5 years - CNN

Key witness against El Chapo is sentenced; may get out in 5 years
By Sonia Moghe, CNN



Updated 4:19 PM ET, Thu May 30, 2019

Vicente Zambada Niebla is shown off to media after his March 2009 arrest in Mexico.
(CNN)One of the top witnesses to testify against Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced Thursday to 15 years by a federal judge in Chicago, but may get out in five years because of time served.

Vicente Zambada Niebla -- who has admitted to passing along orders for murders and kidnappings -- is the son of Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the alleged current leader of the Sinaloa Cartel.
Vicente Zambada served as a high-ranking leader in the cartel.
Zambada, known as "El Vicentillo," was arrested in Mexico in March 2009 and extradited to the US in 2010, where he's been behind bars for nearly a decade.


US District Judge Ruben Castillo gave Zambada credit for time served, and he's expected to serve about five more years behind bars, according to Assistant US Attorney Joseph D. Fitzpatrick.
Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney for Guzman, said of the sentence: "I'm sure El Mayo is very pleased with this result."
During Guzman's trial in Brooklyn, Zambada testified about how he himself had played a role in the Sinaloa Cartel's violent drug trafficking activities. He described paying about $1 million a month in bribes to Mexican officials in order to help move drugs through Mexico into the US.
Prosecutors said in a May sentencing filing that since Zambada began cooperating with the US government in 2011, his cooperation has been "extraordinary," adding that he aided authorities in helping target members of the Sinaloa Cartel and a rival cartel, which lead to the "charging of dozens of high level targets and hundreds of their associates in indictments throughout the country."
Prosecutors said in court filings that Zambada's "unrivaled cooperation with the government sufficiently offsets his criminal culpability" to such a degree that prosecutors recommended a 17-year sentence. The former cartel member was facing a maximum life sentence before his cooperation.
Guzman, who Zambada frequently referred to as "mi compadre," or "my buddy," during his testimony against him, was godfather to Zambada's youngest son and they have known each other since Zambada was 15 years old.
Zambada testified in January that his responsibilities with the cartel included clandestine meetings with high-ranking members of law enforcement and Mexican military officials who helped facilitate smuggling operations and assured the assignment of "friendly" officers in key regions.
For their services, the Mexican government officials collected bribes from more than $1 million set aside each month, Zambada said.

 

[Mtt]

Invest 9 million to get 78 million!!

 

[Kasper KArr]

@itsyoung!! who mans is this?