El Mayo Sentencing Postponed AGAIN — Rescheduled to May 18 as Defense Cites Mexico Violence

For the second time, the sentencing hearing for Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada García has been postponed — now rescheduled from April 13, 2026 to May 18, 2026 in Brooklyn federal court. Defense lawyer Frank Pérez filed the postponement request citing violence and instability inside Mexico that has made it difficult to gather necessary case documentation and witness information. Judge Brian Cogan approved the delay. El Mayo, 77, faces mandatory life imprisonment plus a $15 billion forfeiture judgment after pleading guilty in August 2025 to leading a continuing criminal enterprise (RICO) and drug trafficking conspiracy spanning decades. The postponement marks the second delay in the highest-profile US drug trafficking sentencing in history — the January 13, 2026 hearing was delayed at defense request, and now the April 13 date has also slipped. The sentencing, whenever it occurs, will formally close the legal chapter on El Mayo's 2024 arrest — the event that fractured the Sinaloa Cartel and triggered the ongoing civil war between Los Chapitos and Los Mayos that has killed hundreds and displaced tens of thousands in Sinaloa.