[8][9] On Twitter and Facebook, Zambada Ortiz uploaded pictures of his extravagant lifestyle filled with luxurious watches, trucks, golden-encrusted weapons, and exotic animals.
[10][11] The photographs Zambada Ortiz uploaded on social media helped the U.S. authorities identify and implicate him with other Sinaloa Cartel associates.
[14] In September 2013, Zambada Ortiz was charged with conspiracy to traffic cocaine and methamphetamine from Mexico to the United States through a California grand jury indictment.
[15] If sentenced for such charges, he will face one to ten years in prison in the United States and forfeit all the drug proceeds he earned from his criminal activities.
[20] While crossing the international border through Nogales, Arizona from Mexico to do some Christmas shopping,[21] Zambada Ortiz and his wife were arrested by federal agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) on 20 November 2013.
[22] The September charges against Zambada Ortiz had been kept confidential, catching him by surprise while he attempted to cross into the United States legally.
[12][26] On 1 January 2014, Zambada Ortiz turned down his right to a speedy trial after deciding that his legal team wanted to continue gathering evidence.
[27] However, the San Diego federal court judge refused to postpone the trial and ordered the hearing for 17 January and the case for 3 February 2014.
As part of the agreement, he forfeited US$250,000 from the drug proceeds, and prosecutors dropped the methamphetamine charges Zambada was initially accused of.
In one of the rows, the attorney of José Rodrigo Aréchiga Gamboa (another high-ranking Sinaloa Cartel member implicated in Zambada's case) took notes.
[35][36] Though Zambada Ortiz was registered as an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center (MCC) in San Diego since his arrest, it was leaked to the press in February 2015 that he was no longer there.
While the prosecution stated that Zambada Ortiz's crimes were significant in nature, the hearing was devoid of the typical rhetoric of other high-profile drug-related cases, which include arguments of how much time a defendant should spend behind bars.
During his hearing, Zambada Ortiz apologized for his crimes and stated that he realized that being involved in the drug trade negatively affected people's lives.
It was unknown if Zambada Ortiz's defense struck a deal with the prosecution in exchange for a reduced term since the indictments of the case are sealed and not available to the public.