Justice in New York filed charges, mainly drug trafficking, against Ovidio Gusman, one of the sons of Sinaloa cartel co-founder Joaquin “El Chapo” Gusman, yesterday (Tuesday) after the young man struck a plea deal that stipulates he will plead guilty and not need a trial, according to official documents.

Ovidio Gusman was believed to be one of Chapo’s four sons, known as “Chapitos”, who took over factions of the Sinaloa cartel. He signed an agreement the day before yesterday, Monday 30 June, stating that he would “plead guilty.”

Thus, prosecutors in Manhattan district court yesterday dropped charges against him, particularly for conspiracy to commit criminal conspiracy, trafficking drugs into the country, and money laundering, leaving a Chicago court in charge of handling the case.

According to documents from the Chicago court, which has now taken over the 35-year-old’s case, a hearing is scheduled for next Wednesday, July 9, to formalize his guilty plea, with Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman presiding.

Sentencing will take place at a later date, which has not been set.

Ovid Gusman was extradited to the United States in September 2023.

US authorities accuse Ovid and three of his (at least eight) brothers of leading a faction of the cartel. U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this year added the gang to his blacklist of “foreign terrorist organizations.”

Washington has accused the Sinaloa cartel of being responsible for much of the fentanyl trafficking destined for the US market, where this synthetic opioid, an extremely potent opioid, causes tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually.

The patriarch, Joaquin Gusman, continues to serve a life sentence in the US as of 2019.

Another of his sons, Joaquin Gusman Lopez, was arrested by US authorities in El Paso (Texas), along with cartel co-founder Ismael “El Mayo” Sabada, almost a year ago, on July 25, 2024. “El Mayo’s accusation that his former partner’s son kidnapped him and turned him over to U.S. authorities sparked an undeclared, ongoing internal war within the cartel.