Sons of "El Chapo" are negotiating plea deal over drug trafficking charges, U.S. attorneys say

Two sons of notorious Mexican drug kingpin "El Chapo" facing sweeping drug-trafficking charges in the U.S. are in plea negotiations with the federal government, attorneys acknowledged Tuesday in a Chicago courtroom.

Neither Ovidio Guzmán López, 34, nor Joaquin Guzmán López, 38, appeared at the brief hearing.

Word of a possible deal for Ovidio Guzman Lopez, who has pleaded not guilty, was first disclosed during an October court date. It came months after his brother, Joaquin Guzmán López, was arrested in an astonishing capture by U.S. authorities in Texas with Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, a longtime leader of Mexico's Sinaloa cartel.