Emma Coronel, El Chapo’s wife, pleads guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering

(CNN) – Emma Coronel, wife of Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, pleaded guilty to three counts, including drug trafficking and money laundering, in federal court on Thursday.

Coronel was regularly seen at her husband’s two-month federal trial in Brooklyn in 2019, and while Guzmán battled the drug trafficking charges he faced for years, Coronel’s guilty plea came four months after his arrest at Dulles International Airport in February. Guzmán was convicted of drug trafficking charges and sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, and is currently being held at the Supermax prison in Colorado.

Coronel pleaded guilty to three counts including conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine for importation into the U.S., conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, and involvement in transactions and deals of a major designated foreign drug trafficking organization.

Coronel’s guilty plea hearing was the first major federal court hearing in Washington where members of the press were met in person. Coronel, wearing a white mask, answered questions from US District Judge Rudolph Contreras through a Spanish interpreter while wearing a green prison uniform.

Coronel married Guzmán in 2007 and they had twin daughters. Her attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, told CNN before the hearing began that Coronel wants to move on with his life and get back with his daughters.