Jalisco Cartel Leader 'El Guacho' To Plea Guilty To Money Laundering In The U.S., Report Claims

A high-ranking member of the Jalisco Cartel is reportedly set to plea guilty to money laundering charges in a U.S. court on Friday.

Concretely, Infobae detailed that Cristian Fernando Gutierrez Ochoa, son-in-law of cartel leader Nemesio "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantez, will make the plea after having reached an deal with the prosecutor's office last month.

In exchange, the outlet said, the prosecutors will dismiss the most serious charges against him: conspiracy to distribute cocaine and methamphetamine. Had he been declared guilty of the charge, he could have gotten a life sentence.

The Jalisco Cartel has been repeatedly targeted by the Trump administration over the past months. "El Mencho" Oseguera Cervantes was among five people sanctioned for their roles in the organization's drug trafficking operations this week, as well as killings tied to it.

The sanctions, announced on Wednesday, freeze assets the people targeted have in the U.S., whether they are personal or part of a company, and prevents U.S. citizens from doing business with them. The U.S. is also offering $15 million for information that could lead to the capture of "El Mencho."

"CJNG's reign of terror across Mexico and its trafficking of fentanyl into the United States has destroyed countless innocent lives," said Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent when announcing the decision.

"The United States remains strongly committed to leveraging all available tools to degrade the capacity of CJNG and other cartels to flood our streets with dangerous drugs and perpetrate heinous acts of violence against civilians," he added.

The other cartel leaders targeted by the sanctions are Gonzalo Mendoza Gaytan, Ricardo Ruiz Velasco, Julio Alberto Castillo Rodriguez (Oseguera's son-in-law) and Audias Flores Silva.

The Jalisco Cartel is among those designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration earlier this year. It is one of the strongest ones in Mexico and has recently become the first group in the country to establish an operational presence across all 32 federal entities. U.S. and Mexican intelligence agencies have confirmed the CJNG's presence from Baja California to Yucatán.