CHICAGO — A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the wives of twin Chicago drug traffickers who cooperated against Sinaloa boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman did not have immunity from prosecution, a considerable setback for the women who are accused of laundering millions of their husbands’ drug proceeds over a 12-year period.
Valerie Gaytan and Vivianna Lopez, the wives of Chicago twins Margarito and Pedro Flores, had asked U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly to dismiss the money laundering charges against them, arguing over the course of several hearings in July that they had been assured by prosecutors that their husbands’ unprecedented cooperation against Guzman meant they would not face charges themselves for their own actions.
On Tuesday morning, Kennelly denied that request, saying there was no convincing evidence there was ever an immunity agreement in writing for Lopez or Gaytan and certainly not for future conduct involving the alleged laundering of the funds at issue in the indictment.
