CHICAGO (AP) — Joaquin Guzman Lopez, son of the infamous Mexican drug lord “El Chapo,” is expected to modify his plea in a U.S. drug trafficking case. This development comes several months after his brother reached a plea agreement.

Guzman Lopez was originally scheduled for a status hearing in a Chicago court on Monday. However, recent court filings have indicated that the session will now serve as a change-of-plea hearing. Details on whether he intends to plead guilty remain undisclosed, and his attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, has not yet commented on the matter.

Locally referred to as the “Chapitos,” or “little Chapos,” Joaquin Guzman Lopez and his brother, Ovidio Guzman Lopez, face allegations of leading a faction within the powerful Sinaloa cartel. In 2023, federal authorities described their operation as responsible for flooding the U.S. with “staggering” amounts of fentanyl.

In July 2024, Guzman Lopez and another prominent Sinaloa figure, Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada, were apprehended in Texas after arriving on a private aircraft. Both have previously entered not guilty pleas to charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, and firearms offenses.

Their arrest ignited a wave of violence in Mexico’s northern state of Sinaloa, as rival factions within the cartel engaged in fierce confrontations.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez was the first son of drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman to enter a plea deal, for which he admitted to helping oversee the production and smuggling of large quantities of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and fentanyl into the United States, fueling a crisis that has contributed to tens of thousands of overdose deaths annually.

Ovidio Guzman Lopez pleaded guilty to drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms charges tied to his leadership role in the cartel. Legal experts called the plea deal a significant step for the U.S. government in their investigation and prosecution of Sinaloa cartel leaders.

Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman is serving a life sentence after being convicted in 2019 for his role as the former leader of the Sinaloa cartel, having smuggled mountains of cocaine and other drugs into the United States over 25 years. The brothers allegedly assumed their father’s former role as leaders of the cartel.