Klapper, now in private practice, said Coronel’s sentence “is a very clear demonstration of how prosecutors can manipulate the sentencing guidelines to either punish or reward a defendant.” If prosecutors truly believed Coronel had only played a minimal role and was merely El Chapo’s wife, it's unclear why she was even charged in the first place because her prosecution would be a waste of time and resources, according to Bonnie Klapper, a former federal prosecutor in the Eastern District of New York. She will receive credit for time served and could be released in just over two years. While federal authorities announced that Coronel had been “arrested,” sources familiar with her case told VICE News she was aware of pending charges against her and came to turn herself in.Ĭoronel has been held since February at a jail in Alexandria, Virginia, and is now expected to be transferred into the federal prison system to serve out her sentence. 22 after arriving at Dulles International Airport near Washington, D.C. and Mexico, was taken into custody by FBI agents on Feb. Guzmán Loera, and perhaps for this reason you feel there’s a need for you to be harder on me, but I pray that you not do that.”Ĭoronel, who holds dual citizenship in the U.S. “I know that you may find it difficult to ignore the fact that I am the wife of Mr. You usually don’t get downward departure unless you’re providing substantial assistance.” “These are the types of circumstances where people are involved in large-scale drug trafficking conspiracies and are benefiting the kingpin and helping the kingpin. “They’re treating her like a cooperator,” said Weinstein, who now works as a defense attorney. “Downward departure,” or a sentence below the range called for by federal guidelines, is typically reserved for individuals who agree to assist the government in some capacity, David Weinstein, a former assistant U.S. The light sentence has raised eyebrows among ex-prosecutors who handled similar cases against high-level drug traffickers and their associates. She added: “They were already growing up without the presence of one of their parents, and for this reason I beg you to not let them grow up without the presence of their mother.” They are the primary most important reasons why I’m here before you.” “And for that reason, I am here before you asking for forgiveness.”Ĭoronel then invoked her children, saying, “Those are precisely the same values that I wish to teach my daughters. “My family brought me up to know what respect was and gratitude and honesty, but they also taught me to accept those mistakes that I made,” she said.
![ema coronel ema coronel](https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/images/emma-coronel-aispuro-4.jpg)
“I am suffering as a result of the pain that I've caused my family. Guzmán Loera, and perhaps for this reason you feel there’s a need for you to be harder on me, but I pray that you not do that,” Coronel said.
![ema coronel ema coronel](https://cdn-3.expansion.mx/dims4/default/b071f40/2147483647/strip/true/crop/613x768+0+0/resize/1200x1503!/quality/90/?url=https:%2F%2Fcdn-3.expansion.mx%2F4b%2F80%2F828b959c490b8f1d2a98264ab0df%2Femma-coronel.jpg)
EMA CORONEL FREE
“Rather, she was a cog in a very large wheel of a criminal organization.”Ī soft-spoken Coronel addressed the court in Spanish before the judge handed down the sentence, asking for forgiveness and making a plea for leniency so that she could be free to raise her 10-year-old twin daughters, who were fathered by El Chapo. “The defendant was not an organizer, leader, boss, or other type of manager,” prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi said. Federal prosecutors in Washington, D.C., asked her judge for leniency, calling for her to serve just four years behind bars and fueling speculation that she’d struck a deal to cooperate.Ĭoronel’s attorneys and federal prosecutors made the case to sentencing Judge Rudolph Contreras that she only played a minimal role in the cartel and that her crimes were committed simply because she was married to El Chapo.
![ema coronel ema coronel](https://cdn.xsd.cz/resize/15817b3446e83445bc8a26c8d32f97f5_resize=1959,1307_.jpg)
It could have ended much worse for Coronel, who faced up to 14 years for her crimes under federal sentencing guidelines.