Drug kingpin El Chapo's wife to plead guilty to U.S. charges

FILE PHOTO: Emma Coronel Aispuro, the wife of Joaquin Guzman, the Mexican drug lord known as "El Chapo", exits the Brooklyn Federal Courthouse, during the trial of Guzman in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., February 11, 2019. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The wife of Mexican drug lord Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, Emma Coronel Aispuro, is expected to plead guilty on Thursday in federal court in Washington, where she has been accused of helping her husband run the Sinaloa cartel of smugglers, court records show.

Coronel, who prosecutors say played a key role in Guzman's 2015 escape from a Mexican prison, is slated to appear for a virtual hearing at 10 a.m. ET (1400 GMT) before U.S. District Judge Rudolph Contreras.