Emma Coronel Aispuro, the former beauty queen and wife of the infamous Mexican drug lord El Chapo aka Joaquin Guzmán Loera, was released from prison on Wednesday. She served a three-year sentence for her involvement in her husband's criminal activities. 

A spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) confirmed her release, marking the latest chapter in the turbulent life of Aispuro. She married Guzmán Loera at the age of 18 while he was 50. And she became inextricably tied to the dangerous world of drug trafficking.

In 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice identified Aispuro, now 34, as a co-conspirator in the activities of the Sinaloa Cartel, a criminal empire led by her husband between 2011 and 2017. 

One of her most notorious roles involved facilitating El Chapo's dramatic escape from a Mexican prison in 2015. She purchased property near the facility and provided him with a watch equipped with a GPS tracking device, enabling co-conspirators to dig a tunnel leading to his cell. The daring escape sent shockwaves around the world.

El Chapo was eventually apprehended in 2016 and sentenced to life in a U.S. prison in 2019, marking the end of his reign as one of the world's most powerful drug lords. Nine months after his imprisonment, Aispuro made headlines again by appearing on a VH1 reality TV show, "Cartel Crew."

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Recovering from Life with El Chapo

In February 2021 she was arrested on international drug trafficking charges. In June of the same year, she entered a guilty plea to three criminal counts, including conspiring to distribute heroin, cocaine, marijuana, and methamphetamine, conspiring to launder money, and engaging in transactions with her husband, who the government considered a foreign narcotics trafficker. 

Her lawyer, Jeffrey Lichtman, expressed her desire to move on, stating, "She is very happy to put this behind her. She didn't expect to get arrested after her husband received life in prison. So, this is obviously a troubling time. But we're going to get past it."

In November 2021, she received a three-year prison sentence, which was less than the four years prosecutors sought. The reduced sentence was influenced by her lack of a prior criminal record and her minimal role within the cartel. As part of her plea deal, she was also required to forfeit nearly $1.5 million in illicit gains tied to Guzmán Loera's criminal operations.

It remains to be seen how she will navigate life beyond the shadow of the Sinaloa Cartel. And whether she can rebuild her image on reality TV.