El Chapo’s Son Flips, Turns On Cartel In Illinois Courtroom

It's being called the shot heard 'round the narco-world.

The son of infamous cartel kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman has taken a plea deal that will out the cartel.

According to NBC Chicago, last week in a Chicago courtroom, Ovidio Guzman (called "The Mouse" in the cartel) took a plea deal from federal prosecutors that requires him to spill all he knows about the cartel's drug trade, in return for a possibly lighter sentence.

Ovidio is a high-ranking member in the Sinaloa cartel. He is one of the 4 'Los Chapitos' his father installed as cartel leaders. The Sinaloa cartel has owned and operated 80% of street drug retail in Chicago for decades.

Now, 35-year-old Ovidio will have to tell investigators everything he knows about the illicit drug trade, answering all questions U.S. authorities ask him. He would also have to testify in court against anyone the government puts on trial.

Ovidio spilling the beans on cartel leaders and it's workings could bring "scorched earth" in Mexico. U.S. drug agents say there have been corrupt government leaders and local law enforcement (on both sides of the border) that have allowed the drugs to go freely through the border for years.

Former agent Jack Riley, who ran the Chicago DEA outpost from 2010-2014 and actually had a bounty on his head from El Chapo, told NBC Chicago Ovidio's information could out a lot more people than just his immediate cartel members:

You may find a lot more organized crime figures, traditional organized crime figures, or even gang leaders that had some role in this and that Ovidio may have knowledge of. We need to know where these people are, how they operate, who assists them, whether it be banks, lawyers, accountants, property managers, transportation, people, all of those people that are in the organization.

Ovidio has to answer investigators' questions about the cartel for at least the next 6 months to be eligible for a lighter sentence.

Meanwhile, Ovidio is no longer being held in the general prison population and is thought to be in witness protection with the U.S. Marshals.