The Latest Breaking News from Valerie Gaytan

In El Chapo fallout, older brother of twin Chicago drug traffickers sentenced for helping launder their money

Armando Flores, the brother of Margarito and Pedro Flores, admitted to hiding $2.3 million of the twins’ drug proceeds under his back porch in Texas. He got “time served” for the 19 months he spent in jail.

Chicago Sun-Times · Oct 11, 2023

Wife of cartel boss who snitched on El Chapo is jailed for hiding $2.3m of drug money

Prosecutors say money was used for luxury vacations, shopping sprees, private schools fees and to attend a J-Lo concert

The Independent UK · Sep 27, 2023

‘Cartel wife’ Valerie Gaytan, whose husband helped bring down El Chapo, warns of ‘fast life’

On her husband Margarito Flores Jr.’s “Surviving El Chapo” podcast, she says she was relieved she got three and a half years in prison for money-laundering, not the five years prosecutors wanted. Still, “it is scary.”

Chicago Sun-Times · Sep 27, 2023

‘Cartel wife’ of Chicago cocaine kingpin gets 3 1/2 years for hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars from feds

Vivianna Lopez made an emotional plea for mercy, telling the judge she feared for the lives of her children after Pedro Flores and his brother, Margarito, famously turned against the Sinaloa cartel and helped bring down Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman Loera.

Chicago Sun-Times · Jul 17, 2023

‘Cartel wives’ of Chicago’s twin cocaine kingpins plead guilty to stashing drug cash

Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan, wives of Pedro and Margarito Flores, admitted to involvement in a conspiracy to launder millions from their husbands’ drug trafficking business after the men were taken into federal custody.

Chicago Sun-Times · Apr 20, 2023

Wives of Flores twins, who helped put drug kingpin ‘El Chapo’ behind bars, to plea guilty to money laundering

The wives allegedly collected drug debts owed to their husbands and spent lavishly.

Chicago Sun-Times · Mar 16, 2023

Judge rules wives of Chicago twins who cooperated against ‘El Chapo’ did not have immunity

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…

Chicago Tribune · Nov 8, 2022

‘Cartel wives’ married to Pedro Flores, Margarito Flores lose bid to dismiss money-laundering charges

Married to the convicted Chicago cocaine traffickers who helped bring down Sinaloa cartel drug lord Joaquín ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán Loera, Vivianna Lopez and Valerie Gaytan are accused of spending millions of drug proceeds on everything from vacations to tuition.

Chicago Sun-Times · Nov 8, 2022

‘What do we have to protect us? Nothing’: Jail calls of Flores twins, wives discussing immunity played in court

CHICAGO — Chicago twins Pedro and Margarito Flores were in the middle of their cooperation against Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman in 2010 when authorities intercepted a series of jail calls showing the brothers and their wives had growing concerns over the lack of an immunity deal from…

Chicago Tribune · Jul 26, 2022

Chicago twin Pedro Flores testifies feds promised wife would get a pass in exchange for his cooperation against ‘El Chapo’

CHICAGO — Pedro Flores, a Chicago drug trafficker who along with his twin brother helped federal authorities build a case against Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, testified Monday that he was promised his wife and other family members would not be prosecuted for any drug-related activities.

Chicago Tribune · Jul 25, 2022