Emma Coronel, the wife of imprisoned Mexican drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was freed in Los Angeles on Wednesday following her arrest in 2021 on drug trafficking charges, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.
The 34-year-old former beauty queen stood accused of helping the Sinaloa drug cartel from 2012 to early 2014.
Ms. Coronel was sentenced to three years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to three charges, including conspiracy to launder money and distribute illegal drugs, and engaging in financial dealings.
The drug charges specifically mentioned the distribution of 5 kilograms or more of cocaine, 1 or more kilograms of heroin, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, and 1,000 or more kilograms of marijuana.
Ms. Coronel further admitted to acting as a courier between her husband, who headed the cartel, and other members of the criminal organization while he was being held in Mexico’s Altiplano prison after his arrest in February 2014.
FBI documents alleged that Ms. Coronel, who was born in California and holds both U.S. and Mexican citizenship, as well as members of her family, were deeply involved in the cartel’s trafficking activities.
However, her sentencing judge said Ms. Coronel had quickly accepted responsibility and agreed to forfeit nearly $1.5 million of proceeds from her criminal activity to the U.S. government. Her three-year sentence was later reduced.
Ms. Coronel met Mr. Guzman when she was a young beauty queen, and married him in 2007 at age 18. The couple has twin daughters.
Two years after his extradition from Mexico in 2017, Mr. Guzman was convicted on all counts of running a multibillion-dollar drug enterprise. The now 69-year-old drug lord was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years, and locked up in the federal Supermax prison in Florence, Colorado.
Ms. Coronel was a regular presence at her husband’s trial in New York.
During her trial, prosecutors also accused Ms. Coronel of assisting in her husband’s famous July 2015 escape from the Altiplano prison in Mexico, when he made his way out through a mile-long (1.6 kilometer-long) tunnel dug from his cell.
An FBI witness claimed that Ms. Coronel had passed along messages from Mr. Guzman to his sons, instructing them to purchase land near the prison. The witness said he was asked to buy a nearby warehouse, firearms, and an armored truck.
Ms. Coronel’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It is not clear whether she faces charges for drug trafficking or other crimes inside Mexico.
Ms. Coronel was given a further two years of supervised release.
Reuters contributed to this article.
