Witness against 'El Chapo' sentenced to 15 years for role in drug trafficking

CHICAGO - A former top aide to Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman whose testimony in New York helped convict the Sinaloa cartel kingpin was sentenced to 15 years in prison Thursday in federal court in Chicago for playing a key role in trafficking thousands of pounds of cocaine and heroin into the U.S. using speedboats, submarines and jumbo jets.

Vicente Zambada-Niebla, 44, had faced up to life in prison, but U.S. District Chief Judge Ruben Castillo credited him for what prosecutors had called his "unrivaled" cooperation.

With credit for the decade he's already served in custody, Zambada-Niebla could be released in less than three years. He'll likely spend the rest of his life in witness protection, however, prosecutors have said.

By any standard, Zambada-Niebla got