Mexican drug trafficker Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Tuesday for co-founding and leading the notorious Sinaloa cartel.
Zambada was one of the most prominent Mexican drug traffickers to face sentencing in a United States court since Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced to life in prison in 2019.
"The almost unimaginable amount of drugs attributable to him and the number of murders that we can document is enough to justify Congress's decision to make this a mandatory life sentence," US District Judge Brian Cogan said.
The 76-year-old Zambada apologized "for the harm I caused and for the example I set," urging future generations to "choose a different path."
Zambada apologizes before sentencing
