Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, the 77-year-old co-founder of Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel, plans to plead guilty to U.S. drug-trafficking charges, according to a court filing made public on Monday. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Cogan converted Zambada’s Aug. 25 appearance in Brooklyn into a change-of-plea hearing. Zambada had earlier denied 17 counts alleging he orchestrated the shipment of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and fentanyl into the United States, laundered narcotics proceeds, trafficked weapons and ordered murders, including the killing of a nephew. The plea agreement follows the Justice Department’s Aug. 5 notice that it will not pursue the death penalty. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but a guilty plea would spare Zambada a lengthy trial and could reduce his eventual sentence. Zambada was arrested in Texas in July 2024 after more than two decades evading U.S. authorities. Prosecutors say that, alongside Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán—now serving life in a Colorado prison—he helped build the Sinaloa cartel into one of the world’s largest and most violent narcotics networks.