Overview

• Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada will formally change his plea to guilty before Judge Brian M. Cogan in the Eastern District of New York on August 25
• On August 5, federal prosecutors notified the court that they will not seek the death penalty in his 17-count indictment
• The charges against Zambada include murder, large-scale fentanyl and other drug trafficking, weapons offenses and money laundering
• Details of any cooperation agreement or sentencing concessions remain under seal and have not been publicly disclosed
• Zambada’s July 2024 transfer to U.S. custody is contested by the defendant, who alleges he was kidnapped by Joaquín Guzmán López