NEW YORK (AP) — Former Mexican cartel kingpin Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada is set to plead guilty next week in a drug trafficking case that accuses him of ordering torture, plotting murders and flooding the U.S. with cocaine, heroin and other illicit drugs.

The expected plea comes after the Justice Department said it would not seek the death penalty for Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada.

Ismael Mario Zambada García, the former drug lord and top leader of the Sinaloa cartel known as El Mayo, will plead guilty to federal drug charges brought by the United States Attorney's Office in Brooklyn,