'Cartel wife' of Chicago cocaine kingpin sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison
CHICAGO - The wife of Chicago drug kingpin Pedro Flores, who with his twin brother helped bring down Sinaloa cartel boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman Loera, was sentenced Monday to 3 ½ years in prison for hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars from the feds.
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly handed down the sentence to Vivianna Lopez after she made an emotional plea for mercy at the Dirksen Federal Courthouse. Lopez told the judge how she feared for the lives of her children after Pedro Flores and his brother, Margarito, famously turned against the Sinaloa cartel.
"I completely understand that my children’s children will always have to look over their shoulder," Lopez said. "We accept that, because of my husband’s cooperation, and who he cooperated against."
Lopez pleaded guilty in April to a money laundering conspiracy. She admitted that she stored her husband’s drug money and arranged with her sister, Bianca Finnigan, and aunt, Laura Lopez, to spend it in a way that would conceal its source.
Later Monday, Kennelly also sentenced Laura Lopez to one year in prison.
The scheme included having Laura Lopez mail the drug money to people Vivianna Lopez specified, as well as having her use it to purchase money orders and gift cards and to make credit card payments.
For example, in March 2020, Vivianna Lopez worked in concert with her aunt and Finnigan to buy a Peloton exercise bike system for $3,140. Finnigan used a credit card to buy it for Vivianna Lopez, and Laura Lopez then reimbursed Finnigan with the drug money.
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But lawyers in the case disagreed over how much was actually laundered by Vivianna Lopez. Prosecutors say the amount was "at least" $869,303. Defense attorney MiAngel Cody argued the feds largely failed to prove each transaction was "designed to conceal or disguise the proceeds of the unlawful activity" — and that the feds overcalculated by $639,251.
Cody’s argument didn’t sit well with Kennelly, though. The judge repeatedly noted during Monday’s sentencing hearing that it seemed to contradict Vivianna Lopez’s plea agreement. Amid a lengthy back-and-forth with Cody on the subject, Kennelly wound up telling her, "We’ve gone beyond confusion, at this point."
"It’s a different emotion," Kennelly said.
Prosecutors have alleged that Vivianna Lopez and Margarito Flores’ wife, Valerie Gaytan, spent the money on travel, private schools for their children, student loans and Vivianna Lopez’s laundry businesses. Assistant U.S. Attorney Erika Csicsila pointed Monday to the purchases of Range Rovers and BMWs, extravagant purses and trips to Greece and to the Turks and Caicos islands.
"It wasn’t just sort of getting by," Csicsila said.
Vivianna Lopez was indicted in June 2021 along with Gaytan, Finnigan, Laura Lopez and the Flores twins’ brother, Armando Flores. All five have pleaded guilty. Vivianna and Laura Lopez are the first to be sentenced.
The Flores twins, who grew up in Little Village, were convicted of importing tons of cocaine into Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Detroit, Vancouver and other North American cities from 2005 to 2008.
Their cooperation with the government was key to the conviction of "El Chapo," who is now serving a life sentence after his 2019 conviction in federal court in Brooklyn.
The Flores twins were rewarded for their cooperation in 2015 with relatively light 14-year prison sentences, which they have served. Then-U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo warned them they would always be looking over their shoulders, though.
Meanwhile, a federal indictment unsealed in Chicago this spring accused four sons of "El Chapo" of taking control of their father’s empire after his arrest, and strengthening their grip over the cartel through brutal violence.