May 28, 2020 — The feds are saying not-so-fast to famous DEA informant Margarito (Junior) Flores. Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman rejected Flores’ bid for a compassionate release on grounds of him being susceptible to the COVID-19 virus due to a recent a blood infection contracted during oral surgery. He’s scheduled to be sprung for good this November. Flores and his twin brother Pedro (Little Pete) Flores are hailed as the two most important informants in DEA history for their help in taking down the world’s most dangerous and powerful drug boss, Joaquin (El Chapo), Guzman, leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. The 38-year olds were the top American distributors for Guzman’s goliath Sinaloa narcotics empire, working out of their hometown of Chicago. After recording 75 phone conversations with Guzman and pleading guilty in a narcotics conspiracy, the Flores brothers were given 14-year prison sentences. Little Pete Flores testified at Guzman’s 2019 trial in New York City. Guzman, 63, was found guilty and is serving a life sentence at the Supermax facility in Florence, Colorado. Junior Flores met face-to-face with Guzman in October 2008 at a mountainside hideaway in northwestern Mexico and was wired-for-sound. The U.S. Attorneys Office in Illinois questions if the Flores brothers have turned over all their money. Their sentencing judge echoed these sentiments at a 2015 court hearing. The Flores brothers forfeited more than $4,000,000 after they cut their deal with prosecutors, but Little Pete Flores gifting his wife a $200,000 Bentley automobile in the days before he reported to prison raised eyebrows. In its response brief to Judge Coleman in trying to block Flores from walking early, prosecutors claim they concluded the Flores are hiding assets and not being forthright with the government about their finances, per their cooperation deal, back in March.
