• Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada is set to plead guilty to federal drug charges.
• The court hearing is scheduled for August 25, 2025, in Brooklyn.
• Zambada faces charges related to drug trafficking, torture, and murder.
• Federal prosecutors will not seek the death penalty against him.
• He was arrested in Texas last year after arriving on a private plane with a cartel associate.

Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, is scheduled to plead guilty next week in a significant drug trafficking case. The plea hearing, set for August 25, 2025, comes after federal prosecutors announced they would not pursue the death penalty against him, which was noted in a letter sent to the court this month. Zambada, 77, has been charged with ordering torture and plotting murders while allegedly flooding the U.S. with cocaine and heroin, as outlined in the court docket, according to ABC News, CBS News, and LA Times.

Under Zambada and co-founder Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, the Sinaloa cartel transformed into one of the largest drug trafficking organizations globally. He initially pleaded not guilty to a range of charges, including drug trafficking, firearms offenses, and money laundering. The presiding judge did not provide specific details about which charges Zambada plans to plead guilty to during the upcoming hearing, according to court documents from ABC News, CBS News, and LA Times.

Zambada was arrested in Texas last year when he arrived on a private plane with Joaquín Guzmán López, one of Guzmán's sons. He has claimed that his capture was the result of a kidnapping. Prosecutors allege that Zambada led a violent operation equipped with military-grade weapons and a private security force reminiscent of an army. He allegedly orchestrated numerous criminal activities, including the murder of his own nephew prior to his arrest, as reported by ABC News, CBS News, and LA Times.