CHICAGO (AP) – A reputed lieutenant of recently captured drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has indicated during a federal court hearing in Chicago that he intends to plead guilty in a $1 billion trafficking conspiracy that also allegedly involved his boss.
Alfredo Vasquez Hernandez appearance Wednesday comes days after Mexican authorities arrested Guzman.
U.S. prosecutors in Chicago indicted Guzman, Hernandez and eight others in 2009, accusing them of using speed boats, submarines and even a cargo plane to move drugs from South America to Mexico, then to the U.S.
It also names an admitted top lieutenant of Guzman’s, Vicente Zambada. He was extradited to Chicago in 2010.
Harnandez’s lawyer, Paul Brayman, told the judge his client intends to plead guilty and that it’s not part of a plea deal.
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