Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of notorious Mexican drug kingpin Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, has been transferred to a halfway house in Long Beach ahead of her scheduled release in September.
Aispuro, who pleaded guilty in 2021 to helping her husband run his multibillion-dollar criminal empire, was transferred from a federal prison in Texas to Long Beach on May 30, a spokesperson with the Federal Bureau of Prisons said.
She is currently serving a three-year prison sentence for her role.
Prosecutors said that in addition to helping Guzmán maintain power over the Sinaloa cartel while behind bars, Aispuro helped plan out her husband’s dramatic escape through a tunnel dug underneath a prison in Mexico in 2015.
By smuggling a GPS watch to him that was disguised as a food item, those digging the tunnel were able to pinpoint Guzmán’s location and reach him, prosecutors said.
Following her arrest in February 2021 at the Dulles International Airport in Virginia, Aispuro accepted a deal from federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty to charges including knowingly and willfully conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana and methamphetamine for several years.
In addition, she pleaded guilty to a money-laundering conspiracy charge and to engaging in transactions with a foreign narcotics trafficker, and she agreed to surrender $1.5 million.
During her sentencing, Aispuro expressed she had “true regret for any and all harm” while asking for forgiveness and a sentence that would allow her to watch her children grow up.
Following her the completion of her prison sentence, Aispuro is expected to serve four years of supervised release.
Meanwhile, Guzmán, who was the leader of the Sinaloa cartel for nearly three decades, is serving out a life sentence plus 30 years at a prison in Colorado.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
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