Another ‘cartel wife’ gets 3.5 years for hiding millions in drug money tied to El Chapo’s Sinaloa cartel

Valerie Gaytan, right, and Vivianna Lopez appeared on the CNBC show “American Greed” in 2021. (CNBC)

A federal judge sentenced the wife of an infamous Chicago drug kingpin to 3.5 years in prison Monday, matching the sentence he gave earlier this summer to her sister-in-law for a money-laundering conspiracy stemming from their husbands’ drug trafficking.

U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly handed down the sentence to Valerie Gaytan after she apologized during a sentencing hearing at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse for stashing away $2.3 million in drug money.