Bondi won't seek death penalty for cartel boss 'El Mayo'

(NewsNation) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi will not seek the death penalty for two accused Mexican drug traffickers, although both men have suspected deep connections to violent criminal cartels, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Tuesday.

In documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on Tuesday, officials alerted the court that the Justice Department would not seek the death penalty for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada and Rafael Caro Quintero per Bondi's authorization.

Zambada is accused of co-founding the Sinaloa Cartel alongside convicted drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman. Zambada was arrested last year alongside Joaquin Guzman Lopez, a son of his former partner, near El Paso, Texas.

Caro Quintero was extradited to the U.S. in February with a group of 28 other suspected cartel members as part of the biggest handover by Mexico of drug trafficking suspects in 10 years, Reuters reported on Tuesday. Caro Quintero was arraigned in New York earlier this year after being released from Mexican custody.

Caro Quintero, the former leader of the Guadalajara cartel, was behind the killing of a U.S. DEA agent in 1985 and had been on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.

Both Caro Quintero and Zambada have pleaded not guilty to U.S. drug trafficking charges.