For the third time since his trial began, the hearing for Joaquín Guzmán López, son of drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, has been postponed.
Guzmán López, also known as "El Güero," was originally scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman of the Northern District of Illinois on July 15 in Chicago, nearly a year after he voluntarily surrendered to U.S. authorities.
His hearing was first postponed to Sept. 15 and then again to Nov. 13. According to new reports, an agreement between the defendant and prosecutors has now moved the hearing to Dec. 1.
In an official court document filed with the Northern District of Illinois, the change was described as made "with the consent of both parties," according to Milenio.
Guzmán López, who before his arrest helped lead the Sinaloa Cartel faction known as Los Chapitos, was apprehended in El Paso, Texas, in July 2024 in an operation that also involved Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, who co-founded the Sinaloa Cartel with El Chapo.
Days after the arrest, Zambada claimed in a handwritten letter that he had been forced onto an airplane on July 25 by Guzmán López and his gunmen. According to the letter, they flew him to the United States and handed him over to authorities.
"I did not turn myself in, and I did not come voluntarily to the United States. Nor did I have any agreement with either government. To the contrary, I was kidnapped and brought to the U.S. forcibly and against my will," Zambada wrote.
Over the past year, other members of the Sinaloa Cartel have also faced U.S. courts. In July, Ovidio Guzmán López, brother of El Güero, pleaded guilty to four drug-related charges in Chicago as part of a deal with authorities.
Also known as "El Ratón," Ovidio Guzmán pleaded guilty to two counts of drug distribution and two counts of participating in a continuing criminal enterprise.
El Mayo Zambada, the godfather of El Güero, also formally pleaded guilty to drug trafficking charges in August. Zambada admitted to founding the Sinaloa Cartel and to trafficking at least 1.5 million kilograms of cocaine during his tenure as one of the cartel's leaders.
"The organization I led promoted corruption in my home country by paying police, military commanders and politicians that allowed us to operate freely. It goes back to the very beginning when I was a young man starting out and it continued for all those years," he added.
Zambada is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 13, 2026.
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