New York, New York - Mexican drug lord Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada, one of the world's most powerful and wealthy crime bosses, was sentenced Monday to life in US prison for co-leading the notorious Sinaloa cartel.

The 76-year-old is the former top associate of the organization's kingpin founder, Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman, who is serving a life sentence in a maximum-security prison in Colorado.

Zambada was arrested at a Texas airport in July 2024 in cloudy circumstances, alleging that a son of El Chapo had kidnapped him in an apparent bid to win favor with US authorities.

At a packed New York courtroom, the white-haired Zambada cut a frail figure as he was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to pay a $15 billion forfeiture.

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Wearing a tan jumpsuit, he read a prepared statement in Spanish in which he extraordinarily urged young people to turn away from violence.

"I stand before you today knowing that my actions caused harm," he said. "I chose this path, and I understand that today I'm being held accountable for those decisions."

Zambada, a former farmworker from the mountainous Sinaloa state, said he grew up in "an environment where violence and crime seemed normal, but now I know that is no excuse."

"Violence must end in Mexico, and elsewhere... No one wins in a war like this," he added. "To the next generation I say this: Choose a different path."

US district judge Brian Cogan, who also presided over El Chapo's trial, said that the amount of smuggled drugs and the number of killings attributed to Zambada justified his sentence.

"He is going to spend the rest of his days in prison. He has accepted that," Cogan said during the roughly 30-minute hearing.