Wife of 'El Chapo' could face decade in U.S. prison after guilty plea

FILE PHOTO: Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Joaquin Guzman, the Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo", exits the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, following the sentencing of Guzman in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., July 17, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Emma Coronel Aispuro, on Thursday pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to helping her husband run the Sinaloa cartel, charges that could lead to more than a decade in prison.

Clad in a green jumpsuit and wearing a white face mask, Coronel appeared before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras in Washington, D.C., and pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiring to distribute illegal drugs, conspiring to launder money and engaging in financial dealings with the Sinaloa drug cartel.