Joaquín Guzmán López pleaded not guilty in a Tuesday court appearance that lasted about 10 minutes. The 38-year-old son of infamous Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán Loera is facing federal drug trafficking, money laundering, conspiracy, and weapons charges and appeared in a Chicago courtroom wearing an orange jumpsuit but no handcuffs, the Guardian reports. He declined a Spanish interpreter and answered most of the judge's questions, which were aimed at assessing his health and confirming he understood the proceedings, with "Yes, your honor," the AP reports.
It's still unclear what exactly led to the dramatic arrest of Guzmán López and Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada García, the Mexican crime organization's other co-founder, who also pleaded not guilty last week:
- US law enforcement sources initially said Guzmán López tricked Zambada García into getting on a plane headed to Texas, but Zambada García's lawyer said that's not true, and that his client was forcibly abducted and brought to the US against his will. But there is some speculation that story is a cover and that Zambada García actually made a deal with US authorities and handed himself over.
- The other reigning theory is that it's Guzmán López who made the deal, possibly to get better terms for himself and his brother, Ovidio Guzmán López, currently on trial in the US. Guzmán López's attorney, however, denied any claims of cooperation with the US government.
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Sinaloa drug cartel stories.)