CHICAGO – Federal court documents show that an associate of Sinaloa cartel leader Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman was arrested in Las Vegas in January and brought to Chicago.
The Chicago Sun-Times reports Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1hLWAvX ) that Edgar Manuel Valencia Ortega pleaded not guilty last week in a closed hearing before U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo in Chicago. Prosecutors accused him of coordinating the delivery of large shipments of cocaine from Mexico to the U.S. He's also accused of collecting and laundering drug money.
Guzman is considered the world's most powerful drug lord. U.S. and Mexican authorities arrested him in February in a hotel in Mexico.
Valencia is the fourth co-defendant charged alongside Guzman in Chicago. Two others have pleaded guilty and a third is awaiting trial next month.
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Information from: Chicago Sun-Times, http://www.suntimes.com/index
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