- The wife of Mexican drug lord "
El Chapo " was sentenced to three years in prison on Tuesday. - Emma Coronel Aispuro expressed "true regret for any and all harm that I may have done" during the sentencing.
The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was sentenced to three years in prison and a forfeiture of nearly $1.5 million, Reuters reported Tuesday.
US District Judge Rudolph Contreras sentenced Emma Coronel Aispuro, 32, in a federal court in Washington on Tuesday, adding that she will forfeit $1,499,970 as part of her sentence, according to her attorney and court documents filed by prosecutor Anthony Nardozzi.
"With all due respect, I address you today to express my true regret for any and all harm that I may have done, and I ask that you and all the citizens of this country forgive me," she said Tuesday through a Spanish interpreter, according to Reuters.
As Insider previously reported, Coronel pleaded guilty to three counts — one count of conspiring to distribute narcotics, one count of conspiring to launder money from the profits of the aforementioned narcotics, and one count of engaging in transactions and business affairs with a drug trafficking organization.
Coronel was arrested on February 22, at the Dulles International Airport.
Jeffrey Lichtman, an attorney on Coronel's legal team, told Insider that they are "pleased with the sentence which was significantly less than the advisory guidelines range as well as the government's recommendation, due to the court recognizing Emma's very minimal role in this very large conspiracy."
Federal prosecutors requested a four-year sentence, according to court documents, but she could have faced a maximum sentence of life.
"Emma isn't happy to still be in prison but she recognizes that this could have been a lot worse for her," Lichtman added in an emailed statement to Insider.
She married Guzman when she was 18 years old in 2007. Prosecutors claimed that he and his associate Ismael Zambada Garcia, known as "El Mayo," were principal leaders of the
Guzman is currently incarcerated and previously escaped prison twice.