The rise and fall of El Chapo’s beauty queen wife Emma Coronel Aispuro as she’s freed from jail to start her new life without him
El Chapo‘s glamorous wife and the mother of their two children made headlines this week after she was released from prison to start her new life without him.
She spent two years behind bars in Los Angeles after being convicted of helping her husband distribute billions of dollars of drugs in America.
But who is former beauty queen Emma Coronel Aispuro, and how did she become the closest confidante and co-conspirator of the world’s most notorious drug lord?
El Chapo’s glamorous wife and mother of their two children, Emma Coronel Aispuro (pictured), made headlines this week after being released from prison to start her new life without him
The recently released inmate was born in 1989 to a cattle ranching family near San Francisco and grew up in the remote Durango village of La Angostura, Mexico.
Who is Emma Coronel Aispuro?
The recently released inmate was born in 1989 to a cattle ranching family near San Francisco and grew up in the remote Durango village of La Angostura, Mexico.
Coronel Aispuro became a beauty queen at the age of 17 when she won the 2007 Coffee and Guava Festival beauty pageant in Canelas, Mexico.
The Mexican-American dual national is also not the first in her family to have cartel ties, like her fatherInés Coronel Barreras was one of El Chapo’s top lieutenants before his arrest in 2013.
How did she meet Joaquin ‘El Chapo’ Guzmán?
Coronel Aispuro met the kingpin when he asked her to dance at the age of 17 at a party in Mexico.
‘He smiled flirtatiously at me. After a while someone said to me: “The man is asking if you want to dance with him”. And I said, “Okay.” she told the LA times in a rare interview.
They enjoyed a whirlwind romance and Coronel Aispuro became his third wife when they married when she turned 18.
El Chapo is 32 years older than her and their two daughters are the youngest of the 19 children he is said to have fathered.
Coronel Aispuro met El Chapo (pictured), who is now imprisoned, when he asked her to dance when she was 17 years old. She became his third wife when they married a year later
Prosecutors say she helped run her husband’s drug empire between 2014 and 2017 — “in close coordination with the command and control structure” of the Sinaloa cartel
‘He smiled flirtatiously at me. After a while someone said to me: “The man is asking if you want to dance with him”. And I said, “Okay.” she told the LA Times in a rare interview
They have twin daughters: Emaly and Maria Joaquina. (Photo: Coronel Aispuro and the children attending the trial of El Chapo)
What was her role in his drug empire?
Coronel Aispuro was arrested by the FBI at Washington’s Dulles International Airport in February 2021 on drug trafficking charges.
Prosecutors say she helped run her husband’s drug empire between 2014 and 2017 — “in close coordination with the command and control structure” of the Sinaloa cartel.
They said she conspired to distribute large quantities of drugs knowing they would be smuggled into the US.
In 2021, she pleaded guilty to helping import more than 450,000 kilos of cocaine, 90,000 kilos of heroin, 45,000 kilos of methamphetamine and approximately 90,000 kilos of marijuana.
Coronel Aispuro also took part in two plots to free El Chapo from prison: a successful escape in 2015 and a second failed attempt the following year while he awaited extradition to the US.
In 2021, she pleaded guilty to helping import more than 450,000 kilos of cocaine, 90,000 kilos of heroin, 45,000 kilos of methamphetamine and approximately 90,000 kilos of marijuana. (Photo: Coronel Aispuro’s mugshot)
Coronel Aispuro often wore large sunglasses and expensive designer outfits that were cataloged by the paparazzi who called outside the courthouse every morning to catch her
She took part in two plots to free El Chapo from prison: one successful escape in 2015 and a second failed attempt the following year while he awaited extradition to the US.
How did she support him during his trial?
Coronel Aispuro, a devoted woman, attended her husband’s trial every day as a show of solidarity.
She often wore large sunglasses and expensive designer outfits that were cataloged by the paparazzi who called outside the courthouse every morning.
Since Coronel Aispuro’s native language is Spanish, she wore headphones during the trial and tuned in to the translation.
The former beauty queen posted inspirational quotes about love and loyalty on a now-deleted Instagram account during the trial.
She also used a rare interview at the time to portray him as a loving father and husband in an interview.
When El Chapo was found guilty, he turned around, looked at her and blew a kiss.
Coronel Aispuro fought back tears and smiled in response and gave him a thumbs up.
El Chapo was given a life sentence and will spend his days in a prison known as the ‘Alcatraz of the Rockies’ and a ‘high-tech version of hell’.
The Mexican-American dual national is also not the first in her family to have cartel ties, as her father, Inés Coronel Barreras, was one of El Chapo’s top lieutenants before his arrest in 2013.
Coronel Aispuro, a devoted woman, attended her husband’s trial every day as a show of solidarity
Coronel Aispuro posted a photo on Instagram with the caption: ‘Few brave people stay until the end, I will never abandon you’ during the trial of El Chapo
What about their children?
Coronel Aispuro gave birth to twins – Emaly and Maria Joaquina – at Antelope Valley Hospital in Lancaster, California.
Guzman’s name was omitted from the children’s birth certificates because the U.S. State Department offered a $5 million bounty for his arrest at the time of their birth.
Coronel Aispuro begged a judge during her trial not to allow her daughters to “grow up without the presence of a mother,” so it is expected that she will use her new-found freedom to return to them.