Skip to Content
News

El Chapo’s Wife Moved To San Pedro Halfway House, Scheduled To Be Released In Fall

Emma Coronel will most likely be stuck in a home arrest situation in an unidentified halfway house, strapped with a GPS monitoring device.

photo: danny335tattoos via Instagram

Emma Modesta Coronel, the 33-year-old wife of former Sinaloa Cartel boss Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán, has been moved out of federal prison and to a halfway house in San Pedro. The transfer happened at the end of May, bringing the former teen beauty queen from The Federal Medical Center, Carswell Air Force Base, a federal penitentiary for women in Fort Worth, Texas, primarily those with special medical or mental health needs.

She is now said to be under the jurisdiction of the Long Beach Residential Reentry Management Office a federal operation overseeing "community confinement," meaning Coronel will most likely be stuck in a home arrest situation in an unidentified halfway house, strapped with a GPS monitoring device, like many inmates at the final 12-18 month stretch of their federal time.

The California-born, Durango-raised Coronel was arrested at Dulles International Airport in 2021, accused by the FBI of sending messages to El Chapo from his employees and sons, and assisting his infamous escape from The Federal Social Readaptation Center No. 1 "Altiplano" in Mexico. Coronel plead guilty to a number of drug conspiracy charges, asking for a sentence that would still allow her to watch her twin daughters grow up. She got three years.

According to CBS News, she is expected to be released in mid-September. At which point, she'll probably bid adieu to Long Beach.

Or just maybe... she'll hang around town just a little while. Start skateboarding. Eat Cambodian pizza. Jam some Sublime.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Why Waving a Mexican Flag at a Protest in the U.S. Is a Form of Resistance

Raising Mexican flags is not an act of anti-Americanism. Quite the opposite—it is an expression of cultural pride, dignity, and resistance in the face of racism and intolerance. In the United States, waving the Mexican flag—or any national flag—can be an act of defiance against oppression, a declaration of one’s humanity and rights in response to relentless denigration by movements like MAGA that seek to marginalize entire communities. Even Trump would agree...

February 18, 2025

Tens of Thousands of Angelenos Flock to L.A.’s Flower District for a Valentine’s Day Flower Free-For-All

Tens of thousands made their way to the city's wholesale flower capital, jamming the streets and sidewalks with countless flowers and people. L.A. TACO'S contributing photographer Kemal Cilengir was there to capture it all, including street vendors getting fined and the dystopian-like flower free-for-all being had by lovestruck customers and hustling vendors eager to offload their prized plants.

February 14, 2025

This Weekend: A New Bar-Setting Indian Restaurant, Duck Laab Pizza, and a Filipino Breakfast Diner Pop-Up

Have a three-day weekend full of chai cheesecake, black garlic cocktails, egg pie, and famous flour tortillas.

February 14, 2025

Self-Defense Against ICE: Community Groups In L.A. Are Uniting to Protect Themselves

More than 50 organizations have joined the call to join this coalition, making it one of Southern California's largest immigrant rights coalitions. The group aims to extend from the San Fernando Valley to the U.S./Mexico border. The coalition is organizing training sessions to prepare its members for community tactics to defend their neighbors from ICE raids and deportations. Their first mass protest is taking place on Monday.

February 13, 2025

Tacos Before Vatos: 13 Tacos In L.A. That Will Make You Forget About Him

For L.A. TACO, love is always in the air, and it smells like charcoal burning on a sunny day under carne asada and tortillas hot off the comal, with vibrant salsas, caramelized onions, and thick guacamole. Forget him, and spend time with things that matter in life: tacos, forever. 

February 13, 2025
See all posts